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ͷ Biophotonics Center

ͷ Biophotonics Center
  2. ͷ Internship in Biophotonics for Emerging Scholars (VIBES) 2026 Project Overviews

ͷ Internship in Biophotonics for Emerging Scholars (VIBES) 2026 Project Overviews

VIBESis launching its second summer research program in 2026 and will be bringing students to campus to work closely with VBC faculty on biophotonics-related research projects. The paid 10-week program will provide undergraduates with the opportunity to have first-hand research experience in laboratory research.

Application details can be found on the program homepage here.

Sample Project Descriptions

  1. Our lab has been working on understanding and applying pulsed infrared light tomodulate various neural cell types (e.g. neurons, astrocytes, microglia). Recent findingssuggest that the effects that pulsed infrared light has on neural cell function can alsoplay a major role in T-cell activation towards immune response. Optical tools to preciselymodulate the immune system function spatially could prove useful in studying theimmune system, its dysfunction, and in clinical applications towards treatinginflammation, infection, and pain. This project will focus on utilizing cell culture,pharmacology, high-speed fluorescence imaging and advanced image analysis toexplore how pulsed infrared light can directly modulate T-cell function.

  2. Rodents are ideal models for studying disease pathogenesis and response to geneticand pharmacological perturbation in the eye. Optical imaging methods enablenoninvasive cellular-resolution visualization of tissue structure and function. We willdevelop a multimodality optical imaging system that provides simultaneous fluorescenceand reflectance contrast of retina microstructure and function. Complementary contrastfrom these modalities will enable real-time image-guided delivery of gene and stem-celltherapies in mouse models of retinal disease and longitudinal tracking of physiologicalresponse.

  3. The incidence of diabetic retinopathy (retinal damage due to diabetes) has increasedsignificant in recent years. Early diagnostics and therapeutic guidance is currently limitedby the ability to visualize changes in retinal vascular perfusion at the retinal periphery.Optical coherence tomography (OCT) enables noninvasive volumetric imaging ofsurface and subsurface tissue structures with micron-resolution and has become the“gold standard” for ophthalmic imaging and diagnostics. However, the field-of-view ofconventional OCT is limited, and multi-volumetric mosaicking of OCT data is required toaccess the retinal periphery. Novel image-processing algorithms will be developed toidentify corresponding fiducials and perform nonlinear registration on overlapping OCTvolumes.

  4. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive imaging technology that isanalogous to ultrasound with light. Applications of OCT imaging have predominatelyfocused on structural imaging of surface and subsurface features with micron resolution.However, OCT can also be applied to quantitatively image perfusion, and we willleverage functional OCT imaging to assess lymphatic function in animal models.

  5. Preterm infants are at increased risk for patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), which results inreversal of blood flow in the descending aorta during diastole. When prolonged, thiscondition has been shown to be associated with neonatal morbidity and mortality. Thestandard for confirming PDA is echocardiography, and various treatment measures areemployed with a final resort being surgery. There is a need to monitor an infant'sresponse to treatment so as to allow timely decision making on whether to changetreatment methods. Echocardiography requires skilled personnel and cannot be used asa monitoring tool. Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) is a technique that is sensitiveto superficial blood flow. We hypothesize that PDA, while primarily affecting the ductus,will also result in changes to superficial perfusion. This project will involve developing anLSCI device for monitoring treatment of infants with PDA.

  6. Identifying biomarkers for embryo viability: Infertility affects more than 1 in 10 Americancouples; current assisted reproductive treatments like in vitro fertilization are costly andhave low success rates. In this project, we are using label-free imaging techniques likeoptical coherence tomography to identify potential biomarkers for viability that willimprove fertility outcomes.

  7. Low-cost and portable diagnosis for diabetic eye disease: Diabetic retinopathy is theleading cause of blindness in working-age adults. In this project, we are developing atechnology to facilitate low-cost and portable comprehensive eye exams that can beimplemented at local clinics via tele-medicine.

  8. Portable brain imaging: Functional near-infrared imaging is a powerful tool for assessingcognitive function, but existing systems are bulky and costly, which prevents large-scalestudies and studies of populations like children. In this project, we are developing a low-cost, portable fNIR system to enable novel studies in children with behavior disorders.

  9. Investigating photon propagation in various tissue sample models including processingexperimental data.

  10. Assist in developing a quantitative metric for temperature based assessments ofcardiovascular system operation using thermal camera images, in order for the metric tobe used for diagnostic purposes.