Jitao Zhang

ContacT

zhan2399@msu.edu Lab website: https://www.brilloptics.org/

DEPARTMENTAL AFFILIATIONS

About

Jitao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and IQ at Michigan State University. Prior to joining MSU, he served as an Assistant Professor at Wayne State University from 2021 to 2024. Before that, he spent six years in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, initially as a postdoc and later as Assistant Research Professor. Jitao obtained his Ph.D. in optical engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. He has been a recipient of several awards, including the Doctoral Dissertation Excellence Award, the Excellent Youth of China Instrument Society scholarship, the Marcy Speer Award for postdoc, the NIH Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award (K25), and the NSF CAREER Award. He also holds three patents in Brillouin technologies.

The Zhang Lab

We work at the intersection of ​optical technology innovation and biomedical research. Utilizing an optical phenomenon called Brillouin light scattering, we design and build Brillouin microscopes for probing the mechanical properties (i.e., elasticity and viscosity) of biological matter with diffraction-limited resolution. By integrating Brillouin microscopy with other imaging modalities, we study biomechanics of cell, tissue, and biomaterials. Ultimately, we aim to address critical questions in biophysics and mechanobiology and pursue clinical application in combating birth defects and cancer diseases. If you are interested in our research, please visit our lab website (https://www.brilloptics.org/) for more information.