Biophysical Chemistry Seminar: Professor Wei Min, Columbia University

Photo of Wei Min
Date
Wed February 8th 2023, 3:00 - 4:00pm
Location
STLC Auditorium 111

About the Seminar

Seeing Molecular Vibrations: Chemical imaging by stimulated Raman scattering

The advent of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy in 2008 has launched a rapidly growing field in biophotonics. By imaging chemical bonds with high sensitivity, speed, specificity and resolution, SRS microscopy has matured into a powerful tool, making increasingly broad impact in chemistry, materials science and biomedicine. In this talk we will introduce a newly developed physical framework to understand the optical response of molecules under two coherent light irradiation, which provides novel insights to the uniqueness of SRS spectroscopy and microscopy. Then we will discuss exciting new research areas and applications enabled by SRS, including (1) bioorthogonal chemical imaging, (2) metabolic imaging of cells and tissues, (3) super-multiplexed optical imaging and profiling, (4) single-molecule vibrational spectroscopy and nanoscopy, (5) single-particle nanomedicine, and (6) water microdroplets and biological water.

About the Speaker

Wei Min received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2008 studying single-molecule biophysics with Prof. Sunney Xie. After continuing his postdoctoral work in Xie group, Dr. Min joined the faculty at Columbia University in 2010, and was promoted to Full Professor there in 2017. He is also affiliated with the Kavli Institute for Brain Science and Department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Min's current research interests focus on developing novel optical spectroscopy and microscopy technology to address chemical and biomedical problems.

Dr. Min's contribution has been recognized by a number of honors, including Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award from SPIE (2023), Raman Award for the Most Innovative Technological Development (2022), Craver Award of Vibrational Spectroscopy (2022), Scientific Achievement Award from Royal Microscopical Society (2021), Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award (2019), Analyst Emerging Investigator Lectureship (2018), Coblentz Award of Molecular Spectroscopy (2017), the ACS Early Career Award in Experimental Physical Chemistry (2017), Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (2015), Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2013), and NIH Director's New Innovator Award (2012).