Congratulations to Our Cell Sciences Imaging Facility Team!

Clockwise from top right: Yili Zhu, PhD; David Lenzi, PhD; Gordon Wang, PhD

Gordon Wang, PhD - $25,000

Co-director, Cell Sciences Imaging Facility

Experiential Learning Grant for FY26
“Online video resource for support of microscopy equipment usage”

The CSIF will develop comprehensive video resources to enhance user training and equipment accessibility, supporting Stanford researchers and beyond. This initiative will create a premium online educational resource designed to complement in-person training experiences. This approach increases ease of access, understanding, and usage of cutting-edge technologies and research applications, ensuring learners at every level gain practical, hands-on experience, building stronger educational communities while equipping students, postdocs, and principal investigators with essential research skills.

David Lenzi, PhD - $996,136

CSIF Shriram Manager and Light Microscopy

C-ShaRP Instrument Award for FY26
“Scanning Confocal Microscope for SoE Shriram Imaging Center”

The deans of Research, Engineering, Humanities and Sciences, Sustainability, and Medicine have been given approval to sponsor the purchase of a Leica Microsystems STELLARIS WLL Plus, FALCON, a laser-scanning inverted confocal microscope for 4D imaging of live and 3D imaging of fixed or inert samples—a cutting-edge imaging instrument.

This substantial award will bring cutting-edge confocal microscopy capabilities to our facility, significantly expanding our research capacity and advancing scientific discovery.

This new instrument will not only replace a 12-year-old, obsolete Zeiss confocal fluorescence microscope, it will add significant new capabilities. It will be able to image more color channels simultaneously with much greater flexibility, and be able to measure fluorescence lifetime, an alternative way of detecting the fluorescent markers used in biological research. Combined with much-improved sensitivity and ease of use, the Leica STELLARIS will provide a state-of-the-art microscope for Stanford researchers studying everything from materials and molecules to cells, tissues, and organisms.

Yili Zhu, PhD - $10,000

CSIF Multi-omics Staff Scientist

C-ShaRP Academy Staff Cross-Training Voucher Program
Inaugural 2025 Proposal Call Recipient

Selected as one of the first ten people to be part of the C-ShaRP Academy Staff Cross-Training Voucher Program, Dr. Zhu will be able to nurture relationships and professional development across Stanford's shared research facilities. The program enables shared facility staff to access instruments at other facilities, develop new methodologies, learn cutting-edge techniques, and foster interdisciplinary collaborations.

These awards demonstrate CSIF's commitment to excellence in imaging technology, user education, and collaborative research. We congratulate the Beckman Center’s CSIF team on this outstanding achievement and look forward to the enhanced capabilities and opportunities these grants will provide to our research community.

Learn more about the Cell Sciences Imaging Facility.

For more information (media inquiries only), contact:
Naomi Love
(650) 723-7184
naomi.love@stanford.edu

Photo Credit: Christine Baker, Lotus Pod Designs