Pushing the spatial, temporal, and spectral limits of microscopy to interrogate complex systems
Want to join our team to capture fast processes in chemical and biological systems through advanced 3D microscopy? Apply to Duke Chemistry! You can learn more about the program and meet some members of our team at the upcoming Duke Chemistry Virtual Open House on Wednesday, November 1nd, 3-5 PM ET. Registration closes October 30th.
Register here: https://chem.duke.edu/ 
Welcome to the new cohort of Duke Chemistry graduate students!
Are you interested in capturing biology and chemistry at speeds and scales previously impossible? Want to learn more about the initial contacts of viruses with host tissue or analyze the behavior of single molecules in complex environments? Like to build things or work with your hands? Like to code or want to learn how to code? If any of these fit you, come do a rotation with us! If you want more information, just contact Kevin directly. For more information on current projects, head over to the Research Overview page.
We have two “subgroup” meetings that prospective students are welcome to join. All meetings held in FFSC 2219:
Wednesdays 10:15-11:30 AM: Single-molecule tracking methodology (Starting 8/30)
Fridays 10:15-11:30 AM: Virus tracking/polymer growth (Starting 9/8, no meeting 9/1)
Larger group meetings/journal club will be held on Wednesdays at 5 PM starting 9/6. Pizza provided!
Interested students are always welcome to attend group meetings, whether in an official rotation or not!
Dr. Xiaochen Tan and team recently demonstrated that real-time 3D single-molecule tracking performance is dramatically improved, both in terms of tracking precision and stability, by replacing a piezoelectric nanopositioner with high-speed galvo steering mirrors. While prior reports of active-feedback tracking have used piezoelectric stages or galvo steering mirrors, Dr. Tan’s work is the first to do a direct comparison, showing clearly the advantage of galvo steering mirrors due to their more rapid response time (~200 μsec) compared to the piezo stage implementation (>1 msec). This work suggests that for real-time 3D single-particle tracking to progress to real-time 3D single-molecule tracking, the piezo technology need to be replaced by faster-responding optical elements. Well done, Xiaochen, Shangguo, Stacey, Chen, and Alexis!
Read the paper here:
Chen’s work on information-efficient scanning patterns in 3D particle tracking has been chosen as the cover story for this month’s issue of Entropy!
https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/23/5
In a newly published paper, Chen examines the “information-efficiency” of different scanning patterns for 3D single-particle tracking. Using Fisher information as a guide, Chen demonstrates that localization precision can be improved nearly two-fold by selectively sampling high-information off-center locations. Check out the full paper here:
https://doi.org/10.3390/e23050498
This paper is included in the special issue on Recent Advances in Single-Particle Tracking: Experiment and Analysis in Entropy.
Kevin presents at SPIE Photonics West on Xiaoqi’s intracellular solvation work and Shangguo and Jack’s real-time 3D single-molecule tracking. Links below!
Xiaoqi successfully defended her thesis entitled “Uncovering the ‘Shape’ of Intracellular Water by Hyperspectral Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy”. Congratulations to Dr. Lang, the first PhD from our group! Her work established a new line of inquiry in the lab that will persist for years to come. We wish Xiaoqi all the best as she moves on to her postdoctoral work with Prof. Wei Min at Columbia University!
Courtney unveiled her latest microscopy method (3D-TrIm), which aims to capture the early events in viral infection by “locking on” to individual viral particles. See her BPS 2021 presentation on the Presentations page or at the link below:
Jonathan Aguilar joins the single-virus tracking / 3D-TrIm team. Jonathan follows a proud tradition of exceptional Duke undergrads diving into the wonderful world of active microscopy. Welcome aboard, Jonathan!
Curious about what we do here at the Welsher Lab? Head over to the Research Overview page to find a brief video on the group’s active microscopy projects! You can also find it on YouTube: