Professor


CHAO ZHOU

Professor

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Washington University in St. Louis

Fellow, Optica (formerly Optical Society of America), International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), American Heart Association (AHA)

Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Tel: 314-935-1296

Email: chaozhou@wustl.edu

Office: Whitaker Hall, Room 390E

Education

Ph.D. Physics, University of Pennsylvania 2007
M.S. Physics, University of Pennsylvania 2003
B.S. Physics, Peking University 2001

Short Biography

Dr. Chao Zhou graduated from Peking University in China, obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and received post-doctoral training from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Before joining Washington University in St. Louis in 2019, he was an Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering at Lehigh University. Dr. Zhou has extensive experience in biophotonics and contributed to the development and validation of novel imaging and light stimulation modalities for various biomedical applications. Research in his group has received sustained support from NIH, NSF, and various foundations. Dr. Zhou is an Editorial Board Member and Section lead in Bioengineering and Biotechnology for Communications Biology (Nature Publishing Group), an associate editor for Photonics Research, IEEE Photonics Journal and Medical Physics, and a fellow of Optica (formerly OSA), the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), American Heart Association (AHA), and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He is a recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award (2011), the National Innovation Award (2017) from TechConnect World Innovation Conference and National Innovation Summit, the RPB Stein Innovation Award (2021) from the Research to Prevent Blindness Foundation, and the Innovative Research Award (2021) from the Clayco Foundation.

 Google Scholar    (CV)    ( Researcher ID )


Research Scientists


Elena Gracheva

Ph.D.

Email: gracheva@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Molecular Genetics, Institute of Gene Biology RAS (Moscow, Russia)
M.S. Biotechnology, Timiryazev Agricultural Academy (Moscow, Russia)
B.S. Agronomy and Pest Control, Timiryazev Agricultural Academy (Moscow, Russia)

Research Interest

Gene regulation, Optogenetics,  Drug Discovery.

Hobby

Skiing, hiking, cooking, dog psychology.


Postdoctoral Researchers


Mutian Shen

Postdoc

Email: smutian@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Physics, Washington University in ST. Louis; 2019-Present
B.S. Computer Science, University of Science and Technology of China; 2016-2019.
B.S. Physics, University of Science and Technology of China; 2014-2019.

Research Interest

OCT System Development, Disorder Systems

Hobby

Cooking, Xiang-Sheng, Piano

Ratul Paul

Postdoc

Email: paul.ratul@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Lehigh University; 2021-2024
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Lehigh University; 2018-2021
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology; 2011-2016

Research Interest

Micro/Nano Fabrication, Microfluidics, MD, FEA Simulation, Image Processing, OCT, PIC

Hobby

Hiking, Cooking

Pawan Kumar

Postdoc

Email: pawank@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India; 2023
Master of Technology, Laser Sc. And Applications, School of Physics, DAVV Indore, India; 2012
Bachelor of Technology, Electronics and Communication Engineering, ICFAI University Dehradun, India; 2010

Research Interest

Optical instrumentation, Structural and functional imaging using OCT, Optical coherence elastography (OCE), Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI), Quantitative Phase Imaging (QPI)

Hobby

Badminton, Cricket, Music

Bokun Zhou

Postdoc

Email: bokun@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Materials Science, Oregon State University (Corvallis, Oregon); 2017 – 2024
M.S. Materials Science, Oregon State University (Corvallis, Oregon); 2017 – 2020
B.S. Physics, Northwest University (Xi’an, China); 2011 – 2015

Research Interest

Micro/nano Fabrication, Surface Functionalization, Materials Characterization, Electro-optic Modulator, Photonic Integrated Circuit

Hobby

Musical, Stand-up Comedy, Half Marathons, Tennis

Meitong Nie

Postdoc

Email: mnie@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2018-2024
M.E. in Photonics Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 2015-2018
B.E. in Optoelectronics Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 2011-2015

Research Interest

Plasmonics, Photothermal effect, Multimodal nano-bio interface, Photonic integrated circuit, PIC-OCT

Hobby

Hiking, Cooking


Graduate Students


Senyue Hao

Ph.D. Student

Email: h.senyue@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Electrical and Systems Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; 2020-Present
B.S. Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen; 2016-2020

Research Interest

OCT system development, Software engineering, Photonic devices

Hobby

Badminton, Melodica, Ancient mythology

Fei Wang

Ph.D. Student

Email: f.wang1@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; 2021-Present
B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Business Administration, Tsinghua University; 2016-2020

Research Interest

Cardiovascular study, tissue engineering, optogenetics, iPSC, Drosophila, OCT

Hobby

Badminton, Art, Design

Abby Matt

Ph.D. Student

Email: amatt@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; 2022-present
B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; 2018-2021

Research Interest

Cardiac optogenetics, Human tissue imaging

Hobby

Running, hiking, music

Chao Ren

Ph.D. Student

Email: chao.r@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Imaging Science, Washington University in St. Louis; 2022-Present
M.S. Electrical System and Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; 2021-Present
M.S. Computer Science, Saint Louis University; 2019-2021
B.S. Computational Mathematics, University of Science and Technology of China; 2015-2019

Research Interest

Image Analysis, Deep Learning

Hobby

Board Games, Cooking

AJ Adkins

Ph.D. Student

Email: a.adkins@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Imaging Science, Washington University in St. Louis; 2022-Present
M.S. Electrical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; 2022-2024
B.A. Physics, Music, Skidmore College, 2017-2021

Research Interest

Optical imaging, Integrated photonics, Computational tools

Hobby

Music, Rock Climbing, Geoguessr

Weiyan Zhou

Ph.D. Student

Email: weiyan.z@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Electrical and Systems Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; 2020-Present
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai; 2017-2020
B.S. Mechanical design, manufacture, and automation, Hunan University, Changsha; 2013-2017

Research Interest

Optical imaging system development, optics, signal processing

Hobby

Reading, running, cooking, music

Haneen Alfauri

Ph.D. Student

Email: a.haneen@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; 2023-Present
M.S. Computer Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis 2023
M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Saint Louis University; 2021
B.S. Electrical Engineering, Princess Sumaya University for Technology 2015

Research Interest

Machine Learning for Medical Imaging, OCTA Images segmentation,  OCT System Development, Deep Learning, AI-based Solutions for Healthcare, CNN

Hobby

Traveling, Exploring technology, Biking

Andrew Song

M.S. Student

Email: a.j.song@wustl.edu

Education

M.S. Imaging Science, Washington University in St. Louis; 2024-Present
B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; 2020-2024

Research Interest

OCT imaging, photoacoustic imaging, image processing

Hobby

Chess, Netflix, and Factorio


Rotation Students


ANJALI THANATHUR VINOD

Ph.D. Student

Email: a.thanathurvinod@wutsl.edu

Education

Bachelor of Science in Physics, University of Calicut, Kerala, India, 2017-2020
Master of Science in Physics, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea, 2022-2024

Research Interest

OCT imaging

Hobby

Traveling, Working out, Cooking

Rosana Alfaro

Ph.D. Student

Email: rosana@wustl.edu

Education

B.E. Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, 2020-2024
Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, 2024-Present

Research Interest

Instrumentation, Optics, Optogenetics, Material Characterization

Hobby

Crochet, Puzzles, Reading, Arts and Crafts, Ukulele, Legos

Yijia Zhou

Ph.D. Student

Email: yijia.zhou@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Imaging Science, Washington University in St. Louis, 2024-Present
B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, 2020-2024

Research Interest

Biomedical imaging, Imaging system development

Hobby

Photography, Traveling

Freedom Li

Ph.D. Student

Email: freedomli@wustl.edu

Education

Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
B.S. of Physics and Biomedical engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Research Interest

Using OCT to understand basic biophysical phenomenon

Hobby

Playing strategy games (video or board game)


Technician


Hongwu Liang

Technician

Email: hliang@wustl.edu

Education

M.D. Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University
B.S. Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University

Research Interest

OCT

Hobby

Fishing, Soccer


Undergraduate Students


Michael Gao

Email: g.gujia@wustl.edu

Education

B.S. Computer Science + Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis; 2021 – Present

Research Interests

Computer Vision, Computational Imaging

Hobby

Acting, Reading, Belegarth

Raymond Hsin

Email: h.raymond@wustl.edu

Education

B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; 2021 – Present

Research Interests

Biological models, Deep learning

Hobby

Tennis, Piano, Card games

Howard Hua

Email: h.howard@wustl.edu

Education

B.S. Computer Science + Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis; 2023 – Present

Research Interests

FPGA, NLP

Hobby

Computer hardware, Chinese calligraphy, Origami

Anthony Huang

Email: anthonyhuang@wustl.edu

Education

B.S. Biology + Interactive Design, Washington University in St. Louis; 2024-present

Research Interests

OCT, Degenerative diseases

Hobby

Basketball, Football, Design, Photography, Guitar


High School Students


Vivian Wang

Education

John Burroughs High School; 2021 – Present

Research Interests

Imaging technology, general biomedical engineering

Hobby

Drawing, Writing, Tennis


Alumni

NameTime at Z-labRole at Z-labPlacement
Jiawei Meng01/2024-01/2025Post Doc
Joanna Chen2022-2024B.S.
Jonathan Lin2023-2024M.S.Research Assistant, Washington University in St. Louis
Xiangping Ouyang2022-2024M.S.Ph.D., University of California, Davis
Kibeom Park10/2021-01/2024Post Doc
Jiantao Zhu09/2021-05/2023M.S.Research Assistant, Washington University in St. Louis
Yuxuan Wang09/2021-05/2023M.S.Ph.D., University of Washington
Kaelyn Schloss09/2022-12/2022Rotation Ph.D. StudentPh.D., Washington University in St. Louis
Siming Yin09/2022-12/2022Rotation M.S. StudentM.S., Washington University in St. Louis
Yilin Li01/2022-12/2022M.S.Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis
Cheng Xu01/2022-05/2022Rotation M.S. StudentM.S., Washington University in St. Louis
Matthew Fishman06/2020-12/2022M.S.Machine Learning Engineer, nVenue
Yixuan Ming02/2021-02/2022 Post DocScientist, Spark Therapeutics, Inc.
Boyang Zhang M.S. 
Jing Men2014-2020 Ph.D.Optical System Engineer, Coluxa Inc.
Jason Jerwick2015-2020Ph.D.Engineer, Applied Research Associates
Zhao Dong2016-2020 Ph.D. 
Jingyun Zou 2016-2018M.S.Ph.D., The University of Melbourne, Australia
Zhiwen Yang01/2019-08/2019Visiting StudentMasters Student, Beihang University
Guoyan Liu11/2018-07/2019Visiting ScholarDepartment of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University
Rhea Malhotra High School StudentB.S., Stanford University
Luisa Goepfert09/2015-12/2015Visiting StudentRadiation Protection Manager, ITM Isotopen Technologien München AG
Junchao Liu Visiting StudentComputer Science, Wuhan University
Yuanhao He09/2017-05/2018M.S.Electrical & Computer Engineering, Lehigh University
Jason Syu09/2016-05/2018M.S.Electrical & Computer Engineering, Lehigh University
Lian Duan09/2015-12/2018M.S.Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Lehigh University
Yongyang Huang09/2013-05/2019Ph.D.Research And Development Scientist, Nexcelom Bioscience
Mudabbir Badar08/2016-12/2018PostdocSenior Optical Engineer, Intuitive
Jinming Wang08/2017-02/2018Visiting Student
Xiaofang Wang02/2017-02/2018Visiting StudentDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, the Third Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University
Tao Xu08/2016-01/2018Visiting StudentState Key Laboratory of Software Engineering, Wuhan University
Qiongyu Guo2016-2017 Research ScientistAssistant Professor, Southern University of Science and Technology
Ian Rubinoff01/2016-05/2017Undergraduate StudentVision Imaging Engineer, Intuitive
Jia Rao01/2016-05/2017Undergraduate StudentEngineering Lead, HealthCrowd
Xialin Sang07/2017-10/2017Visiting StudentDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Hainan University
Penghe Wu08/2015-09/2017Ph.D. candidateBioengineering Program; Center for Photonics and Nanoelectronics, Lehigh University
Canyu Li08/2016-08/2017Visiting ScholarDeputy Director, The 3rd Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, China
Jinda Pan09/2016-06/2017Visiting StudentSchool of Precision Instrument and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University
Yuan Ning09/2016-06/2017Visiting StudentSoftware Engineer, Google
Dana McAllister09/2012-05/2014High school studentUndergraduate student at Stevens Institute of Technology
Luisa Geopfert09/2015-02/2016Exchange StudentRadiation Protection Manager, ITM Isotopen Technologien München AG
Nicole Pirozzi09/2012-05/2014B.S., BioengineeringScrum Master, BD
Katherine Vojir06/2012-09/2012B.S., BioengineeringBiomaterials Research Engineer at DSM
Jonah Kohen06/2013-08/2013B.S., Computer EngineeringEmbedded Software Engineer, Intuitive
Andre Sukernik12/2013-05/2015B.S., Electrical and Computer EngineeringElectrical Engineer, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Fengqiang Li06/2012-08/2012M.S., Electrical and Computer EngineeringComputer vision algorithm engineer, Apple
Charly Caredda06/2013-08-2013Visiting StudentUniversité Claude Bernard Lyon 1
Mingming Chen (Brain Chan)09/2015-09/2016Visiting StudentState Key Laboratory of Software Engineering, Wuhan University
Qing Xu07/2014-09/2014Visiting Scholar
Yutao Ma06/2012-09/2012Visiting ScholarProfessor, School of Computer Science, Central China Normal University, China
Xianxu Zeng11/2013-10/2014Visiting ScholarDirector, Pathology Department, the 3rd Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, China
Aneesh Alex11/2012-03/2015Post-doctoral AssociateGSK, Bioimaging Investigator