Elsayad Lab
Research Focus
The research of the Elsayad Lab centers on developing novel optical microscopy and spectroscopy techniques to elucidate microscopic scale mechanical, structural, and dynamic properties of biological matter. These are used to provide insight into their anatomical relevance (defining morphology, and organization across different scales), functional relevance (role in development, locomotion, and signaling/information transduction), and medical relevance (relation to pathologies and potential for prognostics and diagnostics). They work on human donor samples as well as diverse model organisms, and collaborate with clinics to explore the translational potential of the developed techniques.
Main Objectives
- Elucidating the connection between microscopic scale viscoelastic anisotropy and microscopic anatomy, the biophysical implications thereof, and biomedical relevance in relation to pathologies.
- Realization of a "Brillouin Scattering Atlas of the Human Body": An anatomical atlas cataloging the Brillouin Scattering measured viscous and elastic properties of body parts for standardizing current and future biomedical applications.
- Building on our understanding of the viscoelastic and rheological properties of biofluids under physiological and pathological conditions, developing optical approaches for high-throughput measurements thereof, and exploring their diagnostic potential.
- Shedding light on mechanical signaling and information transduction processes on the microscopic and mesoscopic scale in biological systems, and the biomedical relevance thereof.
- Miniaturization and optimization of existing and novel optical microspectroscopy approaches, and instigating their translation to clinical applications.
- Collaborative biomedical research projects where our techniques can offer unique, additional or complementary insight into underlying microscopic mechanical and structural properties.
Projects
Project 1
Brillouin Scattering Atlas of the Human Body
Project 2
Viscoelasticity of biofluids in relation to disease. Spectroscopic and rheological studies (open positions available)
Project 3
Broadband label-free optical spectroscopy approaches sensitive to changes in chemical, structural and mechanical properties.
Project 4
Mechanical/structural Anisotropy Imaging (biomedical applications)
Project 5
Various projects in line with the research focus of the Elsayad Lab that rely on the resources provided by the Department of Anatomy.