Biomedical Applications

Below are areas of research where physical principles are guiding the development of novel biomedical techniques

Haase Lab – Optical Methods for Cellular Monitoring

Our long-term research goal is to develop and apply innovative spatial, single cell and optical technologies that will transform our understanding of cellular communication in health and disease and use this insight to develop new treatments.

Spatial transcriptomics encompasses a set of technologies capable of resolving spatial differences in gene expression with subcellular resolution. These technologies have allowed us to peer into the spatial organization of numerous tissue types, as well as to characterize the microenvironment surrounding cancer and other disease initiating cells. We overcame several shortcomings of current spatial transcriptomics approches and developed Image-seq, a technology that enables image-guided isolation of live cells from intact tissue (in vivo and in situ), and from precise anatomic locations or regions of interest, for subsequent single cell gene expression analysis (Haase et al, Nature Methods, 2022 & Haase, Nature Reviews Immunology, 2023).

Moving forward, we aim to develop next-generation Image-seq technologies and apply them to tissues and organisms other than mouse bone marrow. Image-seq’s unique capacity to isolate live and intact cells should further position us to perform in vitro and transplantation assays that will facilitate linking differences in spatial organization to differences in biological function.

Spring Lab – Photomedicine and Biophysical Microscopy

The Spring Laboratory at Northeastern University bridges biophysics, biomedical optics and cancer biology to selectively target microscopic deposits of tumor cells left behind by standard therapies that limit our ability to cure many malignancies. Optical spectroscopic imaging, laser physics, and photophysics are applied to visualize and mop up this residual disease. The ultimate goal of the program is to reduce cancer recurrence and mortality by establishing new approaches for personalized medicine that address tumor heterogeneity, drug-resistance and molecular mechanisms of treatment escape.