We are a Biological Physics lab at the University of Toronto actively developing the next generation of single-molecule and single-cell optical imaging and manipulation techniques. Our efforts range from super-resolved localization microscopy, to quantify the abundance and stoichiometry of proteins and nucleic acids within cells, to combining microfluidics with computational microscopy, to image the population dynamics of bacterial colonies. We develop bioimage analytic software, from image filtering, to machine learning and segmentation algorithms, to three-dimensional clustering algorithms. And we apply optical force spectroscopy, with pioneering efforts in axial optical tweezers, and passive tethered particle motion assays to study DNA-protein interactions, gene transcription and genetic silencing.

What's Happening

(12/6/21): Tianyi's work with the Beharry Lab on novel antimicrobials "Highly potent photoinactivation of bacteria using a water soluble, cell permeable, DNA-binding photosensitizer" is now available as a preprint.

(01/5/21): Daniel's newest paper on "Estimating the Dynamic Range of Quantitative Single-Molecule Localization Microscopy" is now available as a preprint.

(01/5/21): Tiya was awarded a University of Toronto Excellence Award (UTEA) to work in the lab over the summer!

(14/4/21): We are looking for 2 PhD students for Fall 2021. Contact for more information!

(20/02/21): Emiel and Jovana's article "An Ultra-Stable and Dense Single-Molecule Click Platform for Sensing Protein–Deoxyribonucleic Acid Interactions", was just published in Small Methods.