Yiyang Chen

Yiyang Chen

Ph.D. student at WashU

I am currently a Ph.D. student in Imaging Science at the Washington University in St. Louis, supervised by Prof. Matthew Lew. My main research interest is developing advanced multi-dimensional single-molecule super-resolution techniques to visualize the biological structure and dynamics at the nanoscale.

Prior to WashU, I graduated from Nankai University with a bachelor’s degree in physics, where I was a member of the Poling Class of Physics. During my undergraduate studies, I investigated the cytoskeleton structure and deformability of human red blood cells using microfluidics and STochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM) under the supervision of Prof. Leiting Pan. Additionally, I interned at Prof. Qiong Yang’s Lab in the Department of Biophysics at the University of Michigan during the summer of 2019.

For more details, my CV is here

📖 Educations

  • 2021.09 - present, Ph.D. in Imaging Science, Washington University in St. Louis
    • Advisor: Matthew Lew, PhD
    • Thesis (unfinished): Multi-dimensional Single Molecule Nanoscopy to Elucidate the Structure and Conformational Dynamics of Cell Membrane Proteins
  • 2017.08 - 2021.06, B.S. in Physics (Poling Class), Nankai University.
    • Thesis: The Study of Deformability of Human Erythrocyte Based on Microfluidics
    • Advisor: Leiting Pan, PhD

🔥 News

  • 2025.04:   I will be attending the Optica Biophotonics Congress: Optics in the Life Sciences in Coronado, California, presenting “Combining Excitation and Emission Modulation Resolves the Angular Separation Between a Pair of Dipole Emitters” at the Novel Techniques in Microscopy session.
  • 2025.03:   Our manuscript “Resolving the Orientations of and Angular Separation Between a Pair of Dipole Emitters” is now published on Physical Review Letters. Check the full text here.
  • 2024.06:   I will be attending the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) Single Molecule Approaches to Biology in Newry, Maine, presenting my poster “Resolving the Orientations of and Separation between an Overlapping Pair of Dipole Emitters”. Looking forward to discussing some exciting science there!

📝 Publications

Resolving the Orientations of and Angular Separation Between a Pair of Dipole Emitters

  Yiyang Chen, Yuanxin Qiu, Matthew D. Lew
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 134 (2025), 093805
  [Article]; [WashU The Source]; [arXiv]

💻 Research Experiences

  • Fundamental Limits, Advanced Optical Imaging System Design and Biological Applications in Single-molecule Orientation Localization Microscopy (SMOLM), 2022.05 - present
    • The Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
    • Advisor: Dr. Matthew D. Lew
    • Research Works:
      • Analyze fundamental precision limits for resolving the orientation separation of two spatially overlapping fluorescent dipole emitters.
      • Develop appropriate labeling techniques for protein imaging in orientation microscopy.
  • Study of Human Red Blood Cells Based on Microfluidics and Super-resolution Microscopy, 2019.05 - 2021.06
    • School of Physics, Nankai University
    • Advisor: Dr. Leiting Pan
    • Research Works:
      • Measured human red blood cell deformability by the speed of cells traveling through narrow channels.
      • Designed a microfluidic ratchet chip for sorting the hRBCs in different life stages, and ran a COMSOL simulation to prove the availability.
      • Imaged the structure of the actin-spectrin network on hRBC membrane cytoskeleton and hRBC membrane protein CD47 diffusivity using STORM, with related data analysis using MATLAB.
  • Immunofluorescent Biomarker for Zebrafish Somitogenesis and Single Cell Oscillation, 2019.07 - 2019.09
    • Department of Biophysics, University of Michigan
    • Advisor: Dr. Qiong Yang
    • Research Works:
      • Developed immunofluorescent biomarkers for different signaling pathways in zebrafish somitogenesis process and segmentation clock.
      • Distinguished oscillating cells of different phenotypes within both zebrafish embryos and cell dispersal systems.

🎖 Honors and Awards

  • 2021.03 Excellence Award, China National University Student Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Program
  • 2018.05 First Prize, Nankai Physics Tournament (NKPT)
  • 2017.10 Poling Scholarship

💬 Academic Activities

  • Member, Spectra ((WashU SPIE and OSA Student Chapter), 2022-present
    • Serve as Co-President (2024) and Vice President (2023)
  • Member, Nankai Physics OSA student chapter, 2018-2020