We are a group of Physicists and Biologists working collaboratively to develop and apply single-molecule and single-cell optical techniques to complex, biological systems. Our efforts range from employing super-resolved localization microscopy, to quantify the abundance and stoichiometry of proteins and nucleic acids within cells, to combining microfluidics with computational microscopy, to study the competitive population dynamics of bacteria. We also develop bioimage analytic software, from machine learning and segmentation algorithms to three-dimensional clustering algorithms, and ecological models of bacterial communities.

What's Happening

We are actively recruiting MSc and PhD graduate students for a number of exciting projects from single-molecule imaging of protein organization to studying bacterial ecology and population dynamics. Contact josh.milstein@utoronto.ca.

(26/06/2024): Our recent collaborative work on combating biofilm infections "Antimicrobial Efficacy of Photocaged β-Lapachone in Bacillus subtilis Biofilms" is now out in ChemPhotoChem.

(10/05/24): Our manuscript "Mechanics limits ecological diversity and promotes heterogeneity in confined bacterial communities" is now available in PNAS.

(01/12/24): Tianyi's and Jeremy's paper "Spatial exclusion leads to tug-of-war ecological dynamics between competing species within microchannels" is now available in PLoS Computational Biology.