LASSP & AEP Seminar by Dr. Randy Bartels

Description

Randy Bartels
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Colorado State University

New Tools For Biological and Biomedical Imaging

Optical microscopy plays a pivotal role in the understanding of spatial and temporal dynamics of biological systems. Light interacts gently with biological systems, which makes imaging extremely powerful. Optical microscopy often requires minimal sample preparation and can be operated under physiological conditions, allowing for live cell imaging. As a result, optical microscopy enables everything from the discovery of basic biological processes to the ability to diagnose disease. What we can currently do with optical microscopy is primarily bound by three limits: spatial resolution, molecular specificity of imaging targets, and imaging depth in tissue. My group develops new methods for extracting a greater range of information from optical microscopy to push past current limitations. I will discuss three of our advances in imaging technology and how they can be used to further biological science. The first advance is label-free molecular imaging tools with unprecedented concentration sensitivity. The improved sensitivity expands the portfolio of biomolecular targets that can be monitored without requiring the introduction of exogenous chemical probes that may be toxic or alter behavior. The second advance that I will describe is our new super resolution microscopy technology that probes spatial information at a level below the diffraction limit using principles of computational imaging and quantum optics. Finally, I will present results on new methods of imaging deep inside of tissue by exploiting field-sensitive measurements of coherent nonlinear optical scattering. In each case, I will highlight the expanded capabilities offered by our advances in imaging technologies and provide an overview of possible applications, wherein new scientific directions can be explored by allowing the capture of information that was previously inaccessible.

Bio:

Randy A. Bartels is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at Colorado State University (CSU). Prof. Bartels has been awarded the Adolph Lomb Medal from the Optical Society of America (now Optica), a National Science Foundation CAREER award, a Sloan Research Fellowship in physics, an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, a Beckman Young Investigator Award, an IEEE-LEOS (now Photonics Society) Young Investigator Award, a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, and a Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering (PECASE). His research involves the development of novel spectroscopy and microscopy techniques and ultrafast fiber lasers for use in these applications. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America and of the American Physical Society (APS). He serves on the Editorial Board of Applied Physics Letters, Photonics and is an editor for Optics Communications and for Science Advances.

Hosted by Frank Wise

Pizza served starting at 12:10 p.m.
Please bring your own beverage