Im Lab

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Phone: 617-643-5679

Photonics, plasmonics and novel materials

Our lab develops novel devices and applications using state-of the art nanoplasmonic and photonic sensors. We also develop new materials to expand the utility of these sensors. Our vision is to bridge the fields of engineering and medicine for next-generation diagnostic technologies. Based on physics and basic in nature, our ultimate goal is clinical translation.

Recent Publications

  • Kim JJ, Hong JS, Kim H, Choi M, Winter U, Lee H, Im H CRISPR/Cas13a-assisted amplification-free miRNA biosensor via dark-field imaging and magnetic gold nanoparticles. Sens Diagn. 2024;3(8):1310-1318 - PMID: 39129860 - PMCID: PMC11308380 - DOI: 10.1039/d4sd00081a

  • Stollmann A, Garcia-Guirado J, Hong JS, Rüedi P, Im H, Lee H, Ortega Arroyo J, Quidant R Molecular fingerprinting of biological nanoparticles with a label-free optofluidic platform. Nat Commun. 2024;15(1):4109 - PMID: 38750038 - PMCID: PMC11096335 - DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48132-4

  • Welsh, JA Goberdhan, DCI O'Driscoll, L Buzas, EI Blenkiron, C Bussolati, B Cai, H Di Vizio, D Driedonks, TAP Erdbrügger, U Falcon-Perez, JM Fu, QL Hill, AF Lenassi, M Lim, SK Mahoney, MG Mohanty, S Möller, A Nieuwland, R Ochiya, T Sahoo, S Torrecilhas, AC Zheng, L Zijlstra, A Abuelreich, S Bagabas, R Bergese, P Bridges, EM Brucale, M Burger, D Carney, RP Cocucci, E Crescitelli, R Hanser, E Harris, AL Haughey, NJ Hendrix, A Ivanov, AR Jovanovic-Talisman, T Kruh-Garcia, NA Ku'ulei-Lyn Faustino, V Kyburz, D Lässer, C Lennon, KM Lötvall, J Maddox, AL Martens-Uzunova, ES Mizenko, RR Newman, LA Ridolfi, A Rohde, E Rojalin, T Rowland, A Saftics, A Sandau, US Saugstad, JA Shekari, F Swift, S Ter-Ovanesyan, D Tosar, JP Useckaite, Z Valle, F Varga, Z van der Pol, E van Herwijnen, MJC Wauben, MHM Wehman, AM Williams, S Zendrini, A Zimmerman, AJ MISEV, Consortium Théry, C Witwer, KW Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches. J Extracell Vesicles. 2024;2:e12404 - PMID: 38326288 - PMCID: PMC10850029 - DOI: 10.1002/jev2.12404

  • Arroyo JO, Stollmann A, Garcia-Guirado J, Hong JS, Im H, Lee H, Quidant R Molecular fingerprinting of biological nanoparticles with a label-free optofluidic platform. Res Sq. 2023;:ePub - PMID: 37886549 - PMCID: PMC10602063 - DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3309306/v1

  • Batool SM, Hsia T, Beecroft A, Lewis B, Ekanayake E, Rosenfeld Y, Escobedo AK, Gamblin AS, Rawal S, Cote RJ, Watson M, Wong DTW, Patel AA, Skog J, Papadopoulos N, Bettegowda C, Castro CM, Lee H, Srivastava S, Carter BS, Balaj L Extrinsic and intrinsic preanalytical variables affecting liquid biopsy in cancer. Cell Rep Med. 2023;4(10):101196 - PMID: 37725979 - PMCID: PMC10591035 - DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101196

  • More publications ...

Research projects

Nanoplasmonic sensing


  • Multiplexed exosome analysis
  • Single molecular detection
Microholography


  • Advanced photonics diagnostics
  • Integrated portable imaging system
Nanospectroscopy


  • Chip-based nano-spectroscopy sensing
  • Integrated with deep learning-based data analysis
Nanophotonics


  • Next-generation optical sensing system
  • High-throughput, low-cost chip fabrication
Nano-plasmonic sensors

In the past, we have developed nanoplasmonic sensing systems (nPLEX/NPS) for exosome analysis in cancer. Ongoing projects are in the fields of highly multiplexed exosome analysis as well as for single molecule analysis.

The nPLEX sensor was highlighted as one of the greatest hits among 20 years of Nature Biotechnology biomedical research.
  • Yang KS*, Im H*, Hong S*, Pergolini I, Del Castillo AF, Wang R, Clardy S, Huang CH, Pille C, Ferrone S, Yang R, Castro CM, Lee H, Del Castillo CF, Weissleder R. Multiparametric plasma EV profiling facilitates diagnosis of pancreatic malignancy. Sci Transl Med. 2017;9(391):eaal3226 – PMID: 28539469.
  • Im H*, Shao H*, Park YI, Peterson VM, Castro CM, Weissleder R*, Lee H*. Label-free detection and molecular profiling of exosomes with a nano-plasmonic sensor. Nature Biotechnol. 2014;32(5):490-5 – PMID: 24752081

News

2023-10-16:

Congratulations to Drs. Hyungsoon Im and Hakho Lee being elected to the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research Academy's Council of Distinguished Investigators Class of 2023.

2023-07-03:

The Biomedical Engineering Team had their Annual Summer BBQ.

2022-09-23:

Matt Lemming (Im Lab) won the poster competition for postdocs at the Martinos Center Summer Symposium. Matt presented his work in applying deep learning for dementia detection in routinely collected clinical brain MRI.

2022-04-18:

Mi Ho (Im Lab) has been selected as a finalist in the ATS 2022 BEAR Cage competition based on her proposal “Molecular diagnostics of pulmonary fibrosis using cell-specific extracellular vesicles.”

2022-03-04:

Lip Ket Chin (Im Lab) joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at City University of Hong Kong as Assistant Professor. Congrats, Prof. Chin!