Emmanuel Beaurepaire (DR1 CNRS, LOB/École Polytechnique) is a pioneer of multiphoton and harmonic generation deep-tissue microscopy. Research: (1) two-photon excited fluorescence (2PEF) and three-photon deep-tissue brain imaging; (2) second-harmonic generation (SHG) and third-harmonic generation (THG) label-free imaging of collagen, myosin, myelin; (3) multimodal 3-photon light-sheet microscopy with ultrafast lasers; (4) metabolic imaging using FLIM/NADH. Key LOB permanent staff (May 2024). Active collaboration with LCF/Lasers group on ultrafast laser development.
Daan Brinks develops all-optical electrophysiology tools for neuroscience. His lab engineers genetically-encoded voltage indicators (GEVIs) and combines them with optogenetics to read out and control neural circuit activity. Key directions: (1) engineering bright, fast GEVIs with improved photostability and voltage sensitivity; (2) multiplexed all-optical neural circuit mapping; (3) identifying rare aggressive cancer cells using voltage-sensitive dyes. His voltage imaging approach represents cutting-edge biosensing at the intersection of photonics and neuroscience.
Sylvain Gigan's PICO (Photonics, Information, and Complexity) group focuses on imaging through and with complex and scattering media. Research: (1) wavefront shaping through scattering media — adaptive optics and transmission matrix approaches for deep-tissue fluorescence imaging; (2) multimode quantum optics through complex media — pushing quantum light through scattering and multi-mode fibres; (3) analogue computing with random optical scattering media. Key for biosensing: deep tissue imaging at high spatial resolution and quantum-enhanced light manipulation.
Kasthuri pioneered automated large-volume serial electron microscopy ('connectomics') to reconstruct complete synaptic wiring diagrams of the brain, and is now exploring synchrotron X-ray and photoemission electron microscopy (with the King lab) to remove imaging-speed bottlenecks and scale reconstructions toward whole-mouse and eventually human brains, comparing development, aging, and species differences. This is squarely the kind of resolution-pushing biological imaging the filter targets, achieving nanometer-scale synaptic resolution across cubic-millimeter-to-whole-brain volumes.
Lichtman invented the multicolor 'Brainbow' fluorescent labeling method and pioneered large-scale, automated serial-section electron microscopy to reconstruct complete synaptic wiring diagrams (connectomes) of neural tissue, pushing spatial resolution and scale together to map circuit-level brain structure.
David Maresca's lab pushes the boundaries of biomedical ultrasound imaging. Research: (1) functional ultrasound imaging of the brain at cellular resolution (vascular signal decoding, brain-computer interface applications); (2) engineering gas vesicle and microbubble acoustic contrast agents as genetically-encoded biosensors; (3) ultrafast ultrasound for cardiac imaging. The lab aims to image individual cells deep inside living organs using next-generation ultrasound. NWO Vici Grant (2026); Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Dynamic Imaging grant.
Marie-Claire Schanne-Klein (DR1 CNRS, LOB) specializes in polarized SHG and THG microscopy for structural tissue imaging. Research: (1) polarimetric SHG imaging of collagen fibril organization — molecular orientation mapping; (2) THG microscopy for myelin and red blood cell imaging; (3) structural and functional label-free imaging of connective tissues; (4) multi-scale SHG/THG analysis of biopolymer structure. SHG expert in LOB.
Schnitzer's lab invents miniaturized and fiber-based two-photon microscopes and voltage/calcium imaging methods that allow single-cell-resolution recording of neural activity in freely behaving animals, including recent wide-field fluorescence-lifetime voltage imaging developed with the Kasevich group for high-throughput readout of neuronal spiking.
Schultz uses two-photon calcium imaging and other optical neurotechnology to study neural population activity in vivo, with application to understanding circuit dysfunction in neurodegenerative disease and to brain-machine interfaces.
Chiara Stringari (CRCN CNRS, LOB) develops FLIM-based metabolic imaging. Research: (1) fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) of NAD(P)H and FAD in live tissue for label-free metabolic mapping; (2) phasor analysis of FLIM data for cellular metabolism states; (3) imaging of myelin dynamics using label-free nonlinear microscopy; (4) metabolic imaging in development and disease. 2025 paper on myelin in Optica.