Washington University in St Louis

The Preston M. Green Department of
Electrical & Systems Engineering

We build novel imaging technologies

Lew Lab group photo

The Lew Lab builds advanced imaging systems to study biological and chemical systems at the nanoscale. Our technology leverages innovations in applied optics, signal and image processing, design optimization, and physical chemistry. We partner with scientists and engineers across all disciplines to develop technologies to solve unmet needs in science, medicine, and society.

We stand up for science

We stand up for science
Flyer adapted from Stand Up for Science. Learn about important policy goals here.

The Lew Lab is a team of inventors, thinkers, and problem solvers working at the intersection of science and technology.

Creating impactful technology is our passion

We invent advanced nanoscopes with nanometer resolution that visualize single molecules in biological and chemical systems. [WebM - 48 MB]
Our novel microscopes robustly measure the 3D positions and 3D orientations of single fluorescent molecules using very little light. [WEBM - 13.0 MB]
Deep learning helps us robustly image molecules' positions and orientations using only 2D camera images with incredible speed and accuracy. [MP4 - 3.97 MB]
Our imaging systems resolve the nanoscale architecture of amyloid peptide aggregates, a key signature of Alzheimer's disease. [WebM - 20.3 MB]

Lab news

Upcoming talks

Optica logoYiyang and Matt will be giving talks at the “Optica Biophotonics Congress: Optics in the Life Sciences” in Coronado, California. Both will be speaking in the Superresolution (NM1C) session on Monday morning, April 21, in the Aurora room.
- Matt will speak at 8:00 AM on “Single-Molecule Orientation-Localization Microscopy: New Approaches and Applications” (NM1C.1).
- Yiyang will speak at 9:15 AM on “Combining Excitation and Emission Modulation Resolves the Angular Separation between a Pair of Dipole Emitters” (NM1C.4).

Center for Biomolecular Condensates LogoYuanxin will be giving a talk at the Center for Biomolecular Condensates retreat on April 30 in Brauer Hall, Room 012. He will speak on “Tracking single molecule dynamics in condensates” at 9:30 AM.

Differential interactions determine anisotropies at interfaces of RNA-based biomolecular condensatesA big collaborative paper between our lab, the Knowles Lab at the University of Cambridge, and the Pappu Lab is now online in Nature Communications! Yuanxin assisted Nadia and Mina with probing anisotropies at the interfaces of RNA condensates by tracking the movements of single YO-PRO-1 molecules! Read about it here:
Differential interactions determine anisotropies at interfaces of RNA-based biomolecular condensates

Visualizing the Architectures of Beta-Sheet Assemblies and Biomolecular Condensates using Single-Fluorogen Orientation-Localization Microscopy Matt visited the qDNA research group at Boise State University to give an invited seminar in the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering. Thanks to Keitel Cervantes-Salguero and the qDNA group for the invitation and being great hosts!

A new polarized dual-view inverted selective-plane illumination microscope (pol-diSPIM), coupled with engineering insights provided by its imaging model, offers an exciting way forward. Read Matt's commentary, now online in PNAS!
Painting rich six-dimensional pictures using polarized fluorescence microscopy” [Open Scholarship]

Single-Molecule Orientation-Localization Microscopy: New Challenges and Biophysical Insights Matt gave a talk in the Biophysical Evening series hosted by WashU Biophysics and Biochemistry. Thanks to Ella Mozier and Madison Stringer for the invitation!

Resolving the Orientations of and Angular Separation Between a Pair of Dipole EmittersCongratulations to Yiyang, whose study is now online in Phys. Rev. Lett.!
- Read about how it is impossible for polarization microscopes to distinguish a pair of molecules from a single molecule: “Resolving the Orientations of and Angular Separation Between a Pair of Dipole Emitters
- News coverage from McKelvey Engineering: “In molecular imaging, details matter

Single-fluorogen imaging reveals distinct environmental and structural features of biomolecular condensatesAfter a long saga, our study of inhomogeneities within biomolecular condensates, a collaboration with the Pappu lab and the Center for Biomolecular Condensates, is now online in Nat. Phys.! Congratulations and thanks to Dr. Tingting Wu and Dr. Matt King for leading and persevering through the process to get this work in print.
- Read about how tracking single fluorogens enables us to characterize “dynamic nanoscale hubs” within condensates: “Single-fluorogen imaging reveals distinct environmental and structural features of biomolecular condensates
- News coverage from The Source: “A closer look at biomolecular ‘Silly Putty’

More news...