Spring Break Ends

"Chemically Selective Imaging and Precision Control of Biomolecular Functions in Live Cells"

Abstract:

Understanding complex biological functions and tracking pathological changes require precise measurement of chemical compositions in biological systems. Recent advancements in optical microscopy have enabled high-resolution mapping of physical and chemical properties, with Coherent Raman Scattering (CRS) microscopy emerging as a powerful technique for imaging lipids and pharmaceutical compounds in biological samples. In this presentation, I will briefly highlight recent technological breakthroughs and key insights from my research group in CRS spectroscopy and microscopy.

The primary focus of this talk will be on Real-Time Precision Opto-Control (RPOC), an innovative technology for site-specific, chemically selective control of subcellular processes with submicron precision. RPOC extends beyond passive chemical imaging by enabling active, localized optical regulation, including the generation of reactive oxygen species, drug activation, photo-uncaging of small molecules, regulation of cell division, and selective cell elimination. These capabilities have provided new insights into site-specific molecular functions and enable sub-organelle-level microsurgery in live cells. In zebrafish embryos, RPOC further enhances the control and analysis of calcium waves induced by ATP uncaging and tissue wounding. I will discuss the development and applications of RPOC, highlighting its potential impact on biological and medical research.

Bio:

Dr. Chi Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Purdue University. He earned his Ph.D. in 2014 from the University of Michigan, specializing in surface nonlinear optical spectroscopy. From 2014 to 2020, his postdoctoral work at Purdue University, Boston University, and the University of Illinois focused on nonlinear optical spectroscopy and imaging for biomedical research. He began his independent research career at Purdue University in 2020, within the Analytical Division of the Chemistry Department.

Dr. Zhang’s current research focuses on developing novel optical imaging and opto-control technologies for biological applications. He has authored over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and holds five patents. His lab specializes in Raman spectroscopy, coherent Raman scattering microscopy, and fluorescence imaging. In addition, his lab has pioneered Real-Time Precision Opto-Control (RPOC) technology, which enables precision optical control of chemical processes in live biological samples. His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Merck & Co., BASF, the Purdue Trask Foundation, the Showalter Foundation, and the Center for Bioanalytical Metrology. Notably, he received the Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) with 2 Million in support from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Additionally, Dr. Zhang is the Founder of Photokinesis LLC, a company dedicated to the commercialization of advanced optical control technologies.

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“Stretch-sensitive ion channels and aqueous humor dynamics in glaucoma”

Abstract:

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness and is frequently associated with dysregulated and elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). A key tissue in determining IOP is the inner wall of Schlemm’s canal, a phenotypically unique endothelial monolayer that is traversed by pores that allow fluid drainage from the eye. Much is known about these pores, yet we do not understand the mechanobiology of their formation. Here we investigate the effects of the stretch sensitive ion channel, TRPV4, on Schlemm’s canal endothelial function, including pore formation. We use a variety of assays, including a novel microbead-based pore forming assay to find that TRPV4 interacts strongly with substrate mechanosensing; that TRPV4 can modulate cell stiffness and pore formation rate; and that microtubule stability has intriguing implications for Schlemm’s canal function.

Bio:

Professor C. Ross Ethier is the Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr. and Mary Duckworth Gellerstedt Chair in Bioengineering and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, he was Head of the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College, London for 5 years, and Director of the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto for 2 years before that. He received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1986, his S.M. from MIT in 1983, his M. Math. from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, in 1982 and his B.Sc. from Queen’s University, Ontario, in 1980.

Prof. Ethier’s research is in the biomechanics of cells and whole organs, with specific emphasis on ocular biomechanics. His primary focus is on developing treatments for glaucoma - the second most common cause of incurable blindness with more than 80 million patients worldwide, and for myopia, which will affect more than half of all people in the world by 2050. In recognition of his work, he has received both the Steacie and Humboldt Fellowships, and the Lissner Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is also the co-founder of an early-stage biotech company.

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Engineering Living Systems at the Interface of Biological, Physical and Computational Sciences - REGISTER HERE

The 2025 Symposium on Physical Genomics is hosted by the Center for Physical Genomics and Engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering, and will be held April 25 on Northwestern's Chicago campus. Speakers include:

Geeta Narlikar, Keynote Speaker - University of California, San Francisco

Carlos Aguilar - University of Michigan

Timothy Downing - University of California, Irvine

Ying Hu - University of Illinois at Chicago

Ana Pombo - Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Tamar Schlick - New York University

Andrew Spakowitz - Stanford University

The event will also feature morning and afternoon discussion panels, a lunchtime poster session, and opportunities to network with world-class leaders in a broad range of cutting-edge scientific fields. Registration is required. To submit an abstract for the poster session, send an email to b-keane@northwestern.edu.

Register for the Symposium

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"The impacts of age and frailty on atrial remodeling and atrial arrhythmogenesis"

Abstract:

Atrial remodeling, including changes in ion channel expression and function, as well as atrial fibrosis, are critical determinants of impaired atrial electrical function and susceptibility to atrial arrhythmias including bradycardia, chronotropic incompetence, and atrial fibrillation. Atrial remodeling is prevalent in aging; however, it is critical to recognize that not all individuals age at the same rate. Rather, aging is highly heterogeneous. This has led to the concept of frailty, defined as a state of increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes due to a diminished capacity to tolerate stressors. Frailty can be quantified in aging mice using a ‘mouse clinical frailty index’. This presentation will address the (1) the development and implementation of the mouse clinical frailty index, (2) the impacts of frailty on sinoatrial node and atrial remodeling in aging mice, and (3) novel interventions designed to modulate frailty and how these impact sinoatrial node and atrial remodeling in aging mice.

Bio:

Dr. Robert Rose is a Professor in the Libin Cardiovascular Institute and the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He holds appointments in the Department of Cardiac Sciences as well as the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology. Dr. Rose obtained his PhD in cardiovascular physiology from the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Calgary in 2005. After this, he undertook Postdoctoral Fellowship training at the University of Toronto from 2005-2008. Dr. Rose then obtained his first faculty position in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, at Dalhousie University where he ran an independent laboratory from 2008-2017. In 2017, Dr. Rose joined the Libin Cardiovascular Institute at the University of Calgary.

Dr. Rose’s research program is focused on the study of cardiac arrhythmias in the setting of prevalent forms of cardiovascular disease such as hypertension, heart failure, and diabetes mellitus as well as in association with aging and frailty. Areas of interest include sinoatrial node dysfunction and atrial fibrillation. His research program is supported by funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, The Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Libin Cardiovascular Institute. Work from Dr. Rose’s laboratory in these areas is consistently published in highly regarded, high impact journals.

Dr. Rose previously held New Investigator awards from The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (2014-2019), The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2009-2014) and The Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation (2008). He was awarded the MacDonald Scholarship from the Heart and Stroke Foundation in 2014. Dr. Rose has also received the Greg Ferrier Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia in 2009 and 2012. Dr. Rose currently holds the DG Wyse-Libin Cardiovascular Institute Professorship in Cardiovascular Research and is a Fellow of the Heart Rhythm Society.

Dr. Rose is routinely sought after as a reviewer for many scientific journals as well as to serve on peer review committees for CIHR and The Heart and Stroke Foundation. He is on the Editorial Board of several journals (Heart Rhythm, Heart Rhythm O2, The American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology, and Frontiers in Physiology).

Dr. Rose has also been heavily involved in leadership, mentorship, and education. He has an established track record of supervising trainees at all levels of experience. Dr. Rose has developed graduate courses in the areas of cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology and has previously served as Director of Science Education in the Libin Cardiovascular Institute. Presently, Dr. Rose is Deputy Director of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute.

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"Seeing the Unseen Using Molecular Fingerprints"

ABSTRACT:
Spectrochemical imaging, using intrinsic fingerprint spectroscopic signals from molecules as a contrast mechanism, opens a new window for understanding life at the molecular level and also enables molecule-based precision diagnosis of diseases. Yet, the intrinsic spectroscopic signal, especially the vibrational signals from chemical bonds, is weaker than the fluorescence signal from a dye by many orders of magnitude. Detecting such weak signal from a tight focus (i.e., a small volume of ~1 femtoliter) under a microscope is extremely challenging and was considered nearly impossible. Ji-Xin Cheng devoted his career to overcoming such daunting barrier through developing advanced chemical microscopes over the past 25 years. In this lecture, Cheng will tell his journey of serendipity-driven innovation, scientific discovery, clinical translation, and entrepreneurship in the growing field of chemical imaging, with a focus on the invention of vibrational photothermal microscopy.

BIO:

Ji-Xin Cheng attended University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) from 1989 to 1994. From 1994 to 1998, he carried out his PhD study on bond-selective chemistry at USTC. As a graduate student, he worked as a research assistant at Universite Paris-sud (France) on vibrational spectroscopy and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) on quantum dynamics theory. After postdoctoral training on ultrafast spectroscopy in 1999 at HKUST, he joined Sunney Xie’s group at Harvard University as a postdoc from 2000 to 2003, where he focused on the development of CARS microscopy that allows high-speed vibrational imaging. Cheng joined Purdue University in 2003 as Assistant Professor in Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Chemistry, promoted to Associate Professor in 2009 and Full Professor in 2013. He joined Boston University as the Inaugural Theodore Moustakas Chair Professor in Photonics and Optoelectronics in summer 2017. Cheng devoted his research career to chasing a far-reaching goal – harnessing intrinsic molecular signatures for label-free imaging, molecule-based diagnosis, and drug-free treatment.

Scholarship: Professor Cheng is authored in 350 peer-reviewed publications with an h-index of 105 (Google Scholar), holder of >40 patents. Cheng’s research has been supported by >50 grants, ~50 million ($) funding, from federal agencies including NIH, NSF, DoD, DoE and private foundations including Chan-Zuckerburg Initiative and Keck Foundation.

Entrepreneurship: In 2014, Professor Cheng co-founded Vibronix Inc which is devoted to vibration-based imaging technologies and medical device innovations. In 2019, Professor Cheng co-founded Pulsethera aiming to kill superbugs by photolysis of intrinsic chromophores. Professor Cheng is the Scientific Advisor of Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp in Santa Barbara and of Axorus in Paris. Chemical microscopes based on his innovations (e.g., mIRage by Photothermal Spec Corp) are installed and used in many countries worldwide.

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2024-2025 Commencement Ceremony

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