Her research centers on new, non-invasive cancer detection technologies that use high-resolution, optical imaging; the use of fluorescent imaging agents for cancer detection; biophysical studies of the light-scattering properties of cells and tissues; and the use of fiber-optic sensors for in vivo detection of cancer.

In 2004, Richards-Kortum received a five-year, $8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop miniature, disposable microscopes that doctors can use to rapidly diagnose tumor genotypes for lung, oral and cervical cancers without conducting a biopsy. The project - a collaborative effort with researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the British Columbia Cancer Agency, the University of Arizona and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston - involves the identification of unique molecular markers for each tumor type, the development of contrast agents that will bind to those markers and the development of the microscopic probes containing the markers.

A laser probe developed by Richards-Kortum and M.D. Anderson's Dr. Michele Follen is currently in multi-center clinical trials for early detection of cervical cancer and precancer. The probe uses fluorescence spectroscopy to develop automated methods of screening for pre-invasive cervical cancer.

Richards-Kortum received her bachelor of science in physics and mathematics, with highest distinction, from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1985. She earned her master's and doctoral degrees in medical physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987 and 1990, respectively. She joined the University of Texas at Austin's electrical and computer engineering department in 1990, and was one of the founding members of UT Austin's Department of Biomedical Engineering in 2001.

Richards-Kortum has received numerous honors for both her teaching and research. These include the National Science Foundation (NSF) Presidential Young Investigator Award (1991); the NSF Presidential Faculty Fellow Award (1992); the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation's Becton Dickinson Career Achievement Award (1992); the UT-Austin College of Engineering's Outstanding Engineering Teaching by an Assistant Professor Award (1994); the Bioengineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Y.C. Fung Young Investigator Award (1999), and the ASEE Sharon Keillor Award for Women in Engineering Education, (2004). She was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor (2002), and a Piper Professor (2004), reflecting excellence in undergraduate teaching.

Richards-Kortum was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineers.