Research Interests
- Microscopy and computer vision
- Chromatin organization, epigenetics, and cancer
- Cell migration and metastasis
Research Synopsis
Life is animate and three-dimensional. Our lab develops tools to better understand living specimens at single molecule, cellular, and tissue level length scales. Specifically, the group focuses on three primary research directions.
Microscope Development and Computer Vision
We harness fundamental physics and engineering principles to conceive, design, and test new fluorescence microscopes to study cells. Specifically, we are developing Lattice Light Sheet Microscopy to allow rapid 3D imaging across scales from single molecules to developmental organisms. We are combining these with advances in computer vision, artificial intelligence, and image analysis to overcome the spatial and temporal resolution limits of existing microscopes.
Chromatin Biology
We are applying our instruments to better understand the relationship between chromatin organization, protein diffusion, and diverse functions within the cell nucleus. We use both live-cell and multiplexed super-resolution imaging to quantify the organization of local nuclear environments with different biological functions and to visualize single proteins as they search for and bind to target genes in these different settings. By combining these measurements with polymer physics models and pharmacological and genetic perturbations, we are studying how cells orchestrate diverse and often conflicting biochemical reactions within the same cell nucleus.
Cell Migration and Metastastasis
Physical forces generated by cells not only propel the cell during migration but also feedback through mechanically sensitive proteins to modulate biochemical signaling pathways. Using photolithography techniques and high throughput imaging, we have developed microfabricated cell culture substrates to study how cells utilize mechanical forces to migrate within and disseminate through complex three-dimensional environments and how engineered T-cells engage with and destroy cancer cells.
Summary
Our efforts are interdisciplinary and highly collaborative. We work closely with cell and developmental biologists, physicists, mathematicians, and software developers at both UNC and outside institutes. If you have an interest in a graduate student or post-doctoral position, please contact me via email.
