Dr Woei Ming (Steve) Lee

Contacts

Contact email:steve.lee@anu.edu.au
Contact phone:+61 2 612 56166
Location:Rm 3.365
Centre:Division of Genome Sciences and Cancer
Link:ANU Researchers profile
PhD, BEng
Group Leader

Steve's research focuses on the application of imaging science for biomedical science so as to understand cell aggregation, cell migration and extracellular matrix re-modelling under fluidic forces.

Steve earned degrees in electronics engineering, physics and trained in advanced bioimaging and industry instrumentation. In his undergraduate and research assistantship, he studied phase singularities in shaped light field (aka fluidic vortex of light) by pioneering optical holography and so-gel electron lithography methods. He then headed R&D department at Einst Technology Pte Ltd to develop confocal laser scanning technologies. He left Singapore to pursue PhD at Uni St Andrews (UK) with Kishan Dholakia in collaboration with Ewan Wright from OSC at University of Arizona. His PhD led to the invention of an optical fiber-capillary fluidics diagnostic tool to resolve the fundamental optical nonlinear properties of nanofluids. In parallel to his PhD, he developed new optical tweezers and imaging tools to study optical gene transfection in mammalian cells. At Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital (Wellman Photomedicine), he worked with Andy Yun as a NIH/NIDDK postdoctoral fellow to pioneer in vivo imaging tools that investigated micro-blood vessel flow dynamics in tumorigenesis, organ transplantation and taste sensation in living mice. 

At start of his independent lab in mid-2013, he invented fluidic-lens gravity shaping principles for low cost high performance smartphone microscopy/dermatoscope and was awarded the 2014 ANSTO Innovative Technology Award by Australian Museum. Since 2012, he has won successive competitive research fellowships and project grants (e.g.UNSW VC Fellow, ANU NIG-FERL, ARC DECRA, 2x ARC DP, 1x NHMRC Ideas, 1x ACRF, 2x CSIRO-AusIndustry, 1x PBCRC-Biosecurity), he led the development of 5 Bespoke BioImaging tools. With these unique tools, he can study cellular activities under fluidic flows across size and time scales; contributing to deeper understanding of spatial temporal biology.  

CV

Research interests

My laboratory adopts a multi-pronged real time volumetric imaging approaches to quantiatively assess biological dynamics at cellular and sub-cellular level, in vitro (biomicrofluidics) and in vivo (living animals) studies under pathological conditions.

Groups

  • Zheng, Y, Montague PhD, S, Lim, Y et al. 2021, 'Label-free multimodal quantitative imaging flow assay for intrathrombus formation in vitro', Biophysical Journal, vol. 120, no. 5, pp. 791-804.
  • McDonald, M, Khoo, W, Ng, P et al. 2021, 'Osteoclasts recycle via osteomorphs during RANKL-stimulated bone resorption', Cell, vol. 184, no. 5, pp. 1330-1347.
  • Upadhya, A, Zheng, Y, Li, L et al. 2021, 'Extending tracking range through structured back focal plane interferometry', SPIE Conference 11701: Complex Light and Optical Forces XV, SPIE, California, United States, p. 8.
  • Xu, T, Lim, Y, Zheng, Y et al. 2020, 'Achieving sub-micrometer imaging resolution in PDMS soft lithography devices using modified inverted selective plane illumination microscopy', 24th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society, United States, pp. 558-560.
  • Zheng, Y, Montague PhD, S, Lim, Y et al. 2020, 'Coherent Optical Scattering and Interferometry (COSI) Microscopy for Morphological Imaging of Thrombus', 2020 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, CLEO 2020, ed. John Wallace, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., Piscataway, New Jersey, pp. 1-3.
  • Li, Y, Lim, Y, Xu, Q et al. 2020, 'Raster Adaptive Optics for Video Rate Laser Scanning Microscopy with Large Field of View Correction', 2020 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, CLEO 2020, ed. John Wallace, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., Piscataway, New Jersey, pp. 1-2.
  • Zhang, Z, Zheng, Y, Xu, T et al. 2020, 'Holo-UNet: hologram-to-hologram neural network restoration for high fidelity low light quantitative phase imaging of live cells', Biomedical Optics Express, vol. 11, no. 10, pp. 5478-5487.
  • Montague PhD, S, Hicks, S, Lee, C et al. 2020, 'Fibrin exposure triggers αIIbβ3-independent platelet aggregate formation, ADAM10 activity and glycoprotein VI shedding in a charge-dependent manner', Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 1447-1458.
  • Xu, T, Lim, Y, Zheng, Y et al. 2020, 'Modified inverted selective plane illumination microscopy for sub-micrometer imaging resolution in polydimethylsiloxane soft lithography devices', Lab on a Chip, vol. 20, no. 21, pp. 3960-3969.
  • Li, Y, Lim, Y, Xu, Q et al. 2020, 'Raster adaptive optics for video rate aberration correction and large FOV multiphoton imaging', Biomedical Optics Express, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 1032-1042.
  • Montague PhD, S, Lim, Y, Lee, W et al. 2020, 'Imaging Platelet Processes and Function-Current and Emerging Approaches for Imaging in vitro and in vivo', Frontiers in Immunology, vol. 11, pp. -.
  • Ayyalil, F, Montague PhD, S, Hicks, S et al. 2019, 'Platelet Function in Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria', 2019 ASH Annual Meeting, American Society of Hematology, Washington D.C., United States, pp. 4884-4884.
  • Lui, M, Gardiner, E, Arthur, J et al. 2019, 'Novel Stenotic Microchannels to Study Thrombus Formation in Shear Gradients: Influence of Shear Forces and Human Platelet-Related Factors', International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 20, no. 12, pp. -.
  • Upadhya, A, Zheng, Y, Li, L et al. 2019, 'Structured Back Focal Plane Interferometry (SBFPI)', Scientific Reports, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. -.
  • Wang, Y, He, X, Bruggeman, K et al. 2019, 'Peptide Programmed Hydrogels as Safe Sanctuary Microenvironments for Cell Transplantation', Advanced Functional Materials, vol. 30, no. 9, p. 1900390.
  • Zhang, Z, Lee, W, Xie, L et al. 2019, 'Noise reduction in ultra-low light digital holographic microscopy using neural networks', Biophotonics Australasia 2019, ed. E M Goldys, B C Gibson, SPIE, Australia.
  • Xu, T, He, X, Zhang, Z et al. 2019, 'Software package for off-Axis digital holographic microscopy imaging processing', Biophotonics Australasia 2019, ed. E M Goldys, B C Gibson, SPIE, Australia.
  • Lim, Y, Li, Y & Lee, W 2019, 'Achieving 3D FRAP using multiphoton polygon scanning microscopy', Biophotonics Australasia 2019, ed. E M Goldys, B C Gibson, SPIE, Australia.
  • Daria, V & Lee, W 2018, 'Optical Nanomanipulation and Structured-Beam Optical Traps', in David Andrews Thomas Nann Robert Lipson (ed.), Comprehensive Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Elsevier Science, London, p347
  • Kamal, T, Yang, L & Lee, W 2018, 'In situ retrieval and correction of aberrations in moldless lenses using Fourier ptychography', Optics Express, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 12pp.
  • Lee, W, McMenamin, T & Li, Y 2018, 'Optical toolkits for in vivo deep tissue laser scanning microscopy: a primer', Journal of Optics, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 1-13pp.
  • He, X, Montague, SJ, Gardiner, E et al 2018, 'Quantifying Embolism: Label-Free Volumetric Mapping of Thrombus Structure and Kinesis in a Microfluidic System with Optical Holography', Advanced Biosystems, 1800089
  • Li, Y, Montague, SJ, Bruestle, A et al. 2018, 'High contrast imaging and flexible photomanipulation for quantitative in vivo multiphoton imaging with polygon scanning microscope', Journal of Biophotonics, 11 (7), e201700341
  • Fang, Q, Curatolo, A, Wijesinghe, P et al. 2017, 'Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence elastography through a micro-endoscope: towards in vivo imaging of cellular-scale mechanics', Biomedical Optics Express, vol. 8, no. 11, pp. 5127-5138.
  • Li, Y, Gautam, V, Bruestle, A et al. 2017, 'Flexible polygon-mirror based laser scanning microscope platform for multiphoton in-vivo imaging', Journal of Biophotonics, vol. 10, no. 11, pp. 1526-1537.
  • He, X, Gaus, K & Lee, W 2017, 'Label-free dynamic volumetric imaging of deforming giant unilamellar vesicles under micro-flows', OSA Biophotonics Congress: The Optics in Life Sciences 2017, Optical Society of American (OSA), USA, pp. 1-3pp.
  • Li, Y, Huang, H, Burgio, G et al. 2017, 'Dynamic control over field of view in polygon mirror-based laser scanning multiphoton microscope', OSA Biophotonics Congress: The Optics in Life Sciences 2017, Optical Society of American (OSA), USA, pp. 1-3pp.
  • Choy, J, Sane, S, Lee, W et al. 2017, 'Improving focal photostimulation of cortical neurons with pre-derived wavefront correction', Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, vol. 11, no. 105, pp. 105-105.
  • Fang, Q, Curatolo, A, Wijesinghe, P et al. 2017, 'Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence elastography combined with a rigid micro-endoscope', Optical Coherence Tomography and Coherence Domain Optical Methods in Biomedicine XXI, ed. J G Fujimoto, J A Izatt & V V Tuchin, SPIE, Bellingham, USA, pp. 1pp.
  • Fleddermann, R, Lee, W, Huang, K et al. 2017, 'Compact flexible multi-pass rotary delay line using spinning micro-machined mirrors', Scientific Reports, vol. 7, no. 9299, pp. 1 - 9pp..
  • Kamal, T, Yang, L & Lee, W 2017, 'Application of computational optics in moldless lenses', 3D Image Acquisition and Display: Technology, Perception and Applications, 3D 2017, Optical Society of American (OSA), Online, pp. 1-3pp.
  • McMenamin, T & Lee, W 2017, 'A compact multi-trap optical tweezer system based on CD-ROM technologies', Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation XIV, ed. K Dholakia and G C Spalding, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Bellingham, USA, pp. 1-8.
  • Kamal, T, Watkins, R, Cen, Z et al. 2017, 'Design and fabrication of a passive droplet dispenser for portable high resolution imaging system', Scientific Reports, vol. 7, pp. 41482-41482.
  • Kamal, T, Watkins, R, Cen, Z et al. 2016, 'Thimble microscope system', SPIE Biophotonics Australasia 2016, ed. M R Hutchinson & E M Goldys, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Bellingham, United States.
  • Li, Y & Lee, W 2016, 'PScan 1.0: flexible software framework for polygon based multiphoton microscopy', SPIE Biophotonics Australasia 2016, ed. M R Hutchinson & E M Goldys, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Bellingham, United States, pp. 6pp.
  • He, X, Zheng, Y & Lee, W 2016, 'DHMI: Dynamic holographic microscopy interface', SPIE Biophotonics Australasia 2016, ed. M R Hutchinson & E M Goldys, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Bellingham, United States, pp. 8pp.
  • Li, Y, Bruestle, A, Gautam, V et al. 2016, 'High speed multiphoton imaging', SPIE Biophotonics Australasia 2016, ed. M R Hutchinson & E M Goldys, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Bellingham, United States, pp. 5pp.
  • Lee, W 2016, 'High Speed Temporal Modulation with Cascaded Fibre Delay Line and Micro-structured Mirrors', Australian Conference on Optical Fibre Technology (ACOFT 2016), Optical Society of American (OSA), New York, USA.
  • Kamal, T, Watkins, R, Cen, Z et al. 2016, 'Direct fabrication of silicone lenses with 3D printed parts', SPIE Biophotonics Australasia 2016, ed. M R Hutchinson & E M Goldys, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Bellingham, United States, pp. 1001336 (1-6pp).
  • Zhu, W, Eckerskorn, N, Upadhya, A et al. 2016, 'Dynamic axial control over optically levitating particles in air with an electrically-tunable variable-focus lens', Biomedical Optics Express, vol. 7, no. 7, pp. 2902-2911.
  • He, X., ...Wang, Y. et al (2016). "Automated Fourier space region-recognition filtering for off-axis digital holographic microscopy." Biomedical Optics Express 7(8): 3111-3123.
  • He, X, Maier, A & Lee, W 2016, 'Mapping the progression of malaria infected erythrocytes with holographic microscopy', Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Pacific Rim, CLEO-PR 2015, IEEE, TBC, pp. 1-2.
  • Kamal, T, He, X & Lee, W 2015, 'Reinventing Pocket Microscopy', Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 41-43.
  • Choi, M, Lee, W & Yun, S 2015, 'Intravital microscopic interrogation of peripheral taste sensation', Scientific Reports, vol. 5, pp. -.
  • Lee, W, Wright, D, Watkins, R et al. 2015, 'Integrated elastic microscope device', Proceedings of SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering, vol. 9332.
  • Lee, W 2015, 'Miniature droplet lenses for mobile microscopy', SPIE Newsroom, pp. 3pp.
  • Kamal, T, He, X & Lee, W 2015, 'Reinventing Pocket Microscopy', Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 41-43.
  • Lee, W, Upadhya, A, Reece, P et al. 2014, 'Fabricating Low Cost and High Performance Elastomer Lenses using Hanging Droplets', Biomedical Optics Express, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 1626-1635.
  • L. Li, W. Lee, X. Xie, W. Krolikowski, A. Rode, and J. Zhou, "Shaping self-imaging bottle beams with modified quasi-Bessel beams," Opt. Lett. 39, 2278-2281 (2014).
  • Lee, W 2014, 'High Performance, low cost elastomer optics', Optical Fabrication and Testing, OFT 2014, Optics Infobase, USA.
  • Lee, W 2014, 'Imaging Cells in Living Animals with Two Photon In-Vivo Abberation-Free Endomicroscopy', Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference ABEC 2014, Engineers Australia, Australia.
  • Lee, W 2014, 'Stick-on microscope for smartphones', Optical Diagnostics and Sensing XIV: Toward Point-of-Care Diagnostics, ed. G L Coté, SPIE, United States of America, pp. 1-6.
  • Lee, W 2014, Frugal microscopy: Inspiring tomorrow's interdisciplinary scientist, pp. 24-25.
  • Lee, W 2014, Pocket Pathology, pp. 39-41.
  • Lee, W & Kamal, T 2014, A Droplet Approach to Lens Making, pp. 30-31.
  • Lee, W, Upadhya, A & Phan, T 2014, 'Mobile microscopy on the move', SPIE Digital Photography X, ed. N Sampat, R Tezaur, S Battiato, B A Fowler, SPIE, USA, pp. 1-7.
  • Eckerskorn, N, Li, L, Kirian, R et al. 2013, 'Hollow Bessel-like beam as an optical guide for a stream of microscopic particles', Optics Express, vol. 21, no. 25, pp. 30492-30499.
  • F Wang, W Toe, W.M. Lee et al “Resolving Stable Axial Trapping Points of Nanowires in an Optical Tweezers Using Photoluminescence Mapping" Nanoletters 13 1185-1191 (2013)
  • Li, L, Eckerskorn, N, Kirian, R et al 2013, 'Quasi-bessel hollow beam as optical guide for micro-particles', Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation X, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, San Diego, CA, V.8810, pp.88100N1-88100N11.
  • Kim, J, Lee, W, Kim, P et al. 2012, 'Fabrication and operation of GRIN probes for in vivo fluorescence cellular imaging of internal organs in small animals', Nature Protocols, vol. 7, no. 8, pp. 1456-1469.
  • Lee, W, Chow, T & Ng, B 2011, 'Resolving inter-particle position and optical forces along the axial direction using optical coherence gating', Bio-Optics: Design and Application, BODA 2011, The Optical Society, Monterey USA.
  • Arita, Y, Torres-Mapa, M, Lee, W et al. 2011, 'Spatially optimized gene transfection by laser-induced breakdown of optically trapped nanoparticles', Applied Physics Letters, vol. 98, no. 9, pp. 1-4.
  • Lee, W & Yun, S 2011, 'Adaptive aberration correction of GRIN lenses for confocal endomicroscopy', Optics Letters, vol. 36, no. 23, pp. 4608-4610.
  • Ahluwalia, B & Lee, W 2010, 'Collinear non-diffracting beams: classification and properties', Complex Light and Optical Forces IV, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, San Francisco, CA, pp. 1-11.
  • Shane, J, Mazilu, M, Lee, W et al. 2010, 'Effect of pulse temporal shape on optical trapping and impulse transfer using ultrashort pulsed lasers', Optics Express, vol. 18, no. 7, pp. 7554-7568.
  • Chow, T, Lee, W, Tan, K et al. 2010, 'Resolving interparticle position and optical forces along the axial direction using optical coherence gating', Applied Physics Letters, vol. 97, no. 23, pp. 231113 - 231113-3.
  • Mthunzi, P, Lee, W, Riches, A et al. 2010, 'Intracellular Dielectric Tagging for Improved Optical Manipulation of Mammalian Cells', IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 608 - 618.
  • Tan, K, Mazilu, M, Chow, T et al. 2009, 'In-fiber common-path optical coherence tomography using a conical-tip fiber', Optics Express, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 2375-2384.
  • El-Ganainy, R, Christodoulides, D, Wright, E et al. 2009, 'Nonlinear optical dynamics in nonideal gases of interacting colloidal nanoparticles', Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, vol. 80, no. 5, pp. 1-6.
  • Lee, W, El-Ganainy, R, Christodoulides, D et al. 2009, 'Nonlinear optical response of colloidal suspensions', Optics Express, vol. 17, no. 12, pp. 10277-10289.
  • Lee, W, Dholakia, K, Wright, E et al. 2009, 'Probing the nonlinear optical response of nanosuspensions', 2009 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and 2009 Conference on Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference, CLEO/QELS 2009, IEEE, Baltimore, MD, pp. 1-2.
  • El-Ganainy, R, Christodoulides, D, Wright, E et al. 2009, 'Optical Nonlinearity of a Colloidal "Non-Ideal Gas" of Nano-Suspensions', 2009 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and 2009 Conference on Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference, CLEO/QELS 2009, IEEE, Baltimore, MD, pp. 1-2.
  • Wright, E, Lee, W, Dholakia, K et al. 2009, 'Optical nonlinearity of liquid nanosuspensions: Kerr versus exponential model', Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation VI, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, San Diego, CA, p. 9.
  • Lee, W, Hernandez-Pozos, J, Vera-Robles, L et al. 2009, 'Dielectric enhanced nanoparticles for three-dimensional optical manipulation', Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation VI, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, San Diego, CA, pp. 1-9.
  • Dholakia, K & Lee, W 2008, 'Optical Trapping Takes Shape: The Use of Structured Light Fields', Advances in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, vol. 56, pp. 261-337.
  • Hernandez-Pozos, J, Lee, W, Vera-Robles, L et al. 2008, 'Controlled three-dimensional manipulation of vanadium oxide nanotubes with optical tweezers', Applied Physics Letters, vol. 93, no. 34, pp. 243107 - 243107-3.
  • Wright, E, Lee, W, Giscard, P et al. 2008, 'Long distance beam propagation in colloidal suspensions: Comparison between theory and experiment', Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation V, ed. Kishan Dholakia and Gabriel C. Spalding, SPIE, Bellingham, WA, USA, pp. 1-9.
  • Shane, J, Mazilu, M, Lee, W et al. 2008, 'Optical trapping using ultrashort 12.9fs pulses', Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation V, ed. Kishan Dholakia and Gabriel C. Spalding, SPIE, Bellingham, WA, USA.
  • J. L. Hernandez-Pozos, W. M. Lee, L. I. Vera-Robles, A. Campero, and K. Dholakia, "Controlled three-dimensional manipulation of vanadium oxide nanotubes with optical tweezers," Applied Physics Letters 93, 243107 (2008)
  • W. M. Lee, P. J. Reece, R. F. Marchington, N. K. Metzger, and K. Dholakia, "Construction and calibration of an optical trap on a fluorescence optical microscope," Nature Protocols 2, 3226-3238 (2007)