Hao F. Zhang, Professor of Biomedical Engineering

The Start-Up Experiment

Abstract:

Hao F. Zhang has been a professor of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University for more than 15 years. One of his primary research focuses is to develop novel ocular imaging technologies centered around optical coherence tomography. In 2015, he co-founded Opticent Inc., a company dedicated to commercializing optical coherence tomography technologies originated from his lab. Opticent products are now used by more than 20 institutions worldwide. In this talk, Prof. Zhang will share his experience on starting and managing an R&D focused start-up company while maintaining an active research program. In particular, Prof. Zhang will discuss lessons learned on lab technology and product development, market-driven and curiosity-driven efforts, and how to explore business opportunities.

Bio:

Hao F. Zhang is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology (by courtesy) at Northwestern University. He received his BS and MS degrees from Shanghai JiaoTong University (Shanghai, China) in 1997 and 2000, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree from Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas) in 2006. From 2006 to 2007, he was a post-doctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis. He and colleagues reported the first demonstration of photoacoustic microscopy (Nature Biotechnology 2006, Nature Protocols 2007, PNAS 2010, Nature Communications 2019), spectroscopic super-resolution imaging (Nature Communications 2016, PNAS 2016, Optica 2019, Light: Science and Applications 2020, Nanophotonics 2022, NanoLetters 2023), visible-light optical coherence tomography (Light: Science and Applications 2016, J. Neuroscience 2022, PNAS 2022, IEEE TMI 2024, 2025). He received the NSF CAREER award and NIH Director’s Challenge Award in 2010, the NIH IMPACT award in 2015, the SPIE Translational Research Award in 2016, and the US National Academy of Sciences Cozzarelli Prize in 2017. He is a fellow of Optica and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. His research interests include optical coherence tomography, super-resolution imaging, ophthalmology and vision science, and genomics. In 2023, he founded the Center of Engineering for Vision and Ophthalmology (CEVO) at Northwestern University. For more information, please visit http://foil.northwestern.edu.

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