People

Faculty

Yi Xue, Ph. D.

yxxue@ucdavis.edu
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
PhD, Mechanical Engineering, MIT, 2019
MS, Mechanical Engineering, MIT, 2015
BS, Optical Engineering, Zhejiang University, China, 2013
Bio: Dr. Xue is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California. She leads the Computational Optics for Biomedical Imaging (COBI) lab and is affiliated with the UC Davis Center for Neuroengineering and Medicine. Dr. Xue’s research focuses on multimodal imaging and deep tissue imaging with applications spanning neuroscience, cellular biomechanics, and cancer metastasis. Her groundbreaking work integrates optical hardware innovations with advanced computational techniques, overcoming fundamental limitations in microscopy. She has developed multiphoton microscopy with intensity-based scattering correction (FOCUS) for ultra-deep tissue imaging and fluorescence diffraction tomography (FDT) bridging fluorescence-labeled imaging with label-free imaging. She is the co-Chair of the Computational Cameras and Displays Workshop at the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) 2023-2024, the co-Chair of the Machine Learning for Scientific Imaging Conference at the IS&T Electronic Imaging 2025, and the Chair of the Designated Enphasis in Biophotonics and Bioimaging program at UC Davis. Dr. Xue have received several awards including NSF CAREER Award, NIH MIRA Award, Weill Neurohub Fellowship, and JenLab Young Investigator Award.

Graduate students

Yucheng (Steven) Li

ycsli@ucdavis.edu
PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering
Optical Engineer, Fluxus Inc., Santa Clara, CA, 2019-2022
MS, Electrical Engineering, UC Santa Cruz, 2019
BS, Microelectronics, Nankai University, China, 2016
Research Project: I am focusing on developing optical and electronics setup and designing reconstruction algorithms to image and get structural information of biological samples. Because the light coming from the samples deep inside is highly scattered, the hardware and algorithms aim to compensate these sample-induced scattering efficiently.
Hobbies: watch sports/e-sports games and TV plays.

Renzhi (Katz) He

cubhe@ucdavis.edu
PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering
MS, Mechanical Engineering, Chongqing University, 2023
BS, Mechanical Engineering, Chongqing University of Posts and Communications, 2020
Research Project: I'm fascinated by optical informed neural networks. I develop machine learning algorithms to gain a deeper understanding of the excitation and detection processes in optical systems. Currently, I am working on projects related to fluorescence diffraction tomography, optical neural networks, and light sheet imaging. Through my research, I aim to bridge the fields of optics and artificial intelligence, pushing the boundaries of imaging technologies for enhanced scientific exploration.
Hobbies: Hunting mushroom, hiking, and postmodern philosophy.

Yuwei Yang

yywyang@ucdavis.edu
PhD student, Biomedical engineering
MS, Electronic Information, Fudan University, 2025
BS, Optoelectronic information science and engineering , Wuhan University, 2022
Research project: I am working on the project about image-guided wavefront shaping method that enables widefield noninvasive, guidestar-free, incoherent imaging through highly scattering layers without illumination control. I focus on intensity-based modulation which relates to amplitude. I will conduct simulations to develop an algorithm for calculating the mask required for optimal focusing.
Hobbies: Reading and playing games

Yichen Ma

ychma@ucdavis.edu
PhD Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
BS, Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, 2025
Research Project: I am interested in applications of optics in biological sciences. I develop techniques for imaging through scattering media to better understand the mechanisms of deep tissues. Currently, I am working on light-sheet imaging. The goal is to achieve in vivo imaging with high spatial resolution and frame rate, which can be potentially applied to monitoring dynamic events.
Hobbies: Solving puzzles, playing board games and watching anime.

Shiyu Zhang

ssuzhang@ucdavis.edu
M.S. Student, Biomedical Engineering
BS, Physics, Zhejiang University, 2022
Hobbies: playing badminton, watching movies

Alumni

2025 Jinsi Guo (B.S. in 2025), is currently a PhD student at UIUC.

2025 Avery Shi (B.S. in 2025), is currently a Master student at Duke University.

2025 Praneeth Eravelli (B.S. in 2025), is currently a Master student in the 5th year masters program at UC Davis.

2025 Ruoshui Song (B.S. in 2025), is currently a Master student at Carnegie Mellon.

2025 Chenyi Zhou (B.S. in 2025).

2024 Daniel Zepeda (B.S. in 2024), is currently a PhD student at UT Austin.

2024 Krithik Parvataneni (B.S. in 2024).

2023 Pooja Mehta, transfer to UC Berkeley.

2023 Keerthi Nair (B.S. in 2023), is currently a Master student at UCSD.

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