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INFORMATION FOR

Joerg Bewersdorf, PhD

Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Cell Biology, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Professor of Physics; Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Cell Biology

Research Summary

Visualizing 3D structure and dynamics at the molecular scale is a current and critical need in biomedical research. Many sub-cellular features, for example the morphology of many organelles or the 3D organization of chromatin, cannot be resolved by standard light microscopy.

Improving the resolution of light microscopy has therefore been an urgent need of biological research for many decades. Today, several methods achieve sub-100 nm resolution by taking advantage of reversible or irreversible photo-physical switching properties of fluorescent markers.

Our research group in the Department of Cell Biology at Yale University School of Medicine is developing new fluorescence microscopy techniques with spatial and/or temporal resolutions going far beyond current technology and also applying them to a diverse set of biological questions.

Specialized Terms: Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy

Extensive Research Description

Our laboratory develops super-resolution Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) microscopy, Single-molecule Localization Microscopy (FPALM/PALM/STORM/PAINT, etc.) and pan-Expansion Microscopy (pan-ExM) techniques. We are actively developing these methods to improve the capabilities (speed, 3D resolution, robustness, multicolor labeling) of these imaging techniques and thereby expand the application range and impact of super-resolution microscopy. In collaboration with a diverse set of research groups at Yale University and outside, we apply our new techniques to current biomedical questions, in particular related to the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi complex, and the cell nucleus.

Coauthors

Research Interests

Cell Nucleus; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Microscopy, Confocal; Cellular Structures

Selected Publications