Nanoscopic Imaging of Biomolecules, Cells and Tissues
Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Presented by
Xiaowei Zhuang
Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Professor of Physics
Harvard University
Speaker Biography
Xiaowei Zhuang is a professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and professor of Physics at Harvard University, and an investigator of Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Zhuang is a leading expert in single-molecule biology and bioimaging. Her lab develops and applies advanced optical imaging techniques to study the behavior of individual biological molecules and complexes in vitro and in live cells. Her current research is focused on three major directions: (1) Developing super-resolution optical microscopy and applying this technology to cell biology and neurobiology, (2) Studying how biomolecules function, especially how proteins and nucleic acids interact, using single-molecule imaging; (3) Developing live-cell imaging techniques and investigating virus-cell interactions using live-cell imaging. Zhuang received her B.S. degree in Physics from the University of Science and Technology of China, and her Ph.D. Degrees in Physics from University of California at Berkeley. In 2001, she joined the faculty of Harvard University as an assistant professor. She was promoted to associate professor in 2005 and full professor in 2006. Zhuang received numerous awards, including the MacArthur Fellowship, Sloan Fellowship, Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, Beckman Young Investigator Award, Searle Scholar award, NSF CAREER award, ONR Young investigator award, TR Worlds Top 100 Young Innovators Award, Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Coblentz Award, ACS Pure Chemistry Award, etc.