The Ecosystem‎ > ‎

Faculty Leads

Dr. James Chan
James Chan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in Residence, UC Davis Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Scientist, Center for Biophotonics, UC Davis (formerly CBST)

publications

Dr. James Chan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and a staff researcher at the Center for Biophotonics, successor organization to the NSF Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology (CBST).  His research interests broadly encompass the development of label-free spectroscopic and microscopic techniques for biomedical, biosensing, and chemical sensing applications.  Techniques of interest include vibrational spectroscopy (Raman, surface enhanced Raman, coherent anti-Stokes Raman, infrared) and second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy. 


James received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science from UC Davis 
in 2002, where he used a combination of confocal Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy to investigate the molecular level structural changes in glass induced by tightly focused ultra-short laser pulses.  From 2003 - 2005 he held a postdoctoral appointment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he applied Raman and CARS spectroscopy for biological and biomedical research.  From 2005 - 2009, as a Staff Scientist at LLNL, he was involved with research developing and characterizing novel fiber-based chemical sensors based on vibrational spectroscopy (Raman, IR, SERS) for remote chemical sensing applications while continuing his biophotonics research at CBST.


Chief Scientific Officer and Associate Director Emeritus, NSF Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology
Adjunct Professor Emeritus, UC Davis Department of Neurological Surgery
Visiting Researcher, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

publications

In 1978 Dr. Lane completed M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Applied Science Engineering from the University of California at Davis (UCD). He then spent 29 years as a researcher and scientific manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and for the last 3 years he has returned to UCD as an Adjunct Professor. For most of his career, Dr. Lane has been involved in both applied research and the development of instrumentation in the areas of physics, biology, and medicine. His technical interests include medical sensors, optical spectroscopy, optical and x-ray imaging and microscopy, computer simulations of photon interaction and transport in tissue, and the development and commercialization of medical devices. He holds 15 patents, has over 80 publications, has received two R&D 100 Awards, the 2001 DOE Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer and, at a White House ceremony, received the Department of Energy Bright Light Award for work on the development of an optical glucose sensor. Dr. Lane has led or participated in projects funded by DoE, DoD, DARPA, NIST, NIH, NSF, LLNL, and UC.



Dr. Wachsmann-Hogiu
Sebastian Wachsmann-Hogiu, Ph.D.
Professor in Residence, UC Davis Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Chief Science Officer, Center for Biophotonics, UC Davis (formerly CBST)

publications

Dr. Wachsmann-Hogiu did his undergraduate studies in Physics, with a major in Biophysics at Bucharest University, Romania.  In 2000 he received his Ph.D. in Experimental Physics from Humboldt University/Max-Born Institute, Berlin, where he used time-resolved Raman/CARS spectroscopy to investigate elementary chemical reactions.

After a two-year postdoctoral appointment in the Chemistry Department at Carnegie-Mellon University, where he performed Stark spectroscopy on conductive polymers and biological materials, he moved to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as a Research Scientist.

In March 2005, he became faculty (assistant professor level) within the Surgery Department, and the Director of the Advanced Optical Imaging Laboratory within the Minimally Invasive Surgical Technologies Institute.  There, he was involved with translating novel optical technologies into viable tools for biomedical applications.

Since April 2007, he has been the Facilities Director at the NSF Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology. He was appointed Associate Professor in Residence in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in September 2008 and Professor in Residence in June 2014.

Sebastian co-authored more than 80 publications in refereed journals and book chapters and participated in education programs at CBST and UC Davis.  He is also interested in commercializing new technologies for the biomedical field.  He is a member of the American Physical Society, Biophysical Society and American Chemical Society.


Richard Levenson, M.D.
Professor and Vice Chair for Strategic Technologies
Department of Medical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

publications

Richard Levenson, MD, FCAP, is Professor and Vice Chair for Strategic Technologies in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UC Davis.

He trained in medicine at University of Michigan and pathology at Washington University, and is Board-certified in Anatomic Pathology. A faculty position at Duke was followed by an appointment at Carnegie Mellon University where he helped develop multispectral imaging approaches for pathology and biology.

In 1999, he joined CRI to become VP of Research, and served as Principal Investigator on federally funded research to develop multispectral microscopy systems and software for molecular pathology and diagnostics, three-dimensional small-animal imaging, optical dynamic contrast techniques, and birefringence microscopy.

He serves on NIH, NCI and NSF review panels, is associate editor of Analytical Cellular Pathology, section editor for Archives of Pathology, and is on the editorial boards of Laboratory Investigation, Cytometry Part A, and Oncopathology.