Integrated electron-fluorescence microscopy

Assistant Professor Xiaocheng Jiang was named a recipient of a 2019 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) award through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). The DURIP program supports universities in acquiring essential laboratory equipment, usually out of reach for most research grants.

Jiang, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, will use the grant towards the acquisition of an integrated electron-fluorescence microscopy system. This system will provide Jiang’s lab and Tufts University with a key tool for cutting-edge biophysical and biomaterials research. In particular, by placing functional biological information in a high-resolution structural context, the new microscopy system will enable key structure-function understanding in life science that is difficult to achieve with standalone optical or electron microscopic methods.

The Jiang Lab is focused on developing engineering platforms that can be seamlessly integrated with living systems for analyzing and directing biological processes. Having recently developed a novel graphene microfluidic platform, researchers believe that pairing this with the integrated electron-fluorescence microscopy system has the potential to change the current form of biophysical studies, enable real-time correlative electron-fluorescence microscopic studies at both molecular and cellular levels, and provide new insights about many biologically significant processes.