The Jon Liu Lab

Molecular Biophotonics and Analytics

Professor Jon Liu’s lab develops optical-imaging solutions for improved disease management. In particular, we are developing custom optical-sectioning (3D) microscopy devices and AI analysis strategies for early cancer detection, improved diagnosis/grading of tumors for precision medicine, and real-time surgical guidance. We also collaborate with tumor biologists to provide new mechanistic insights. These projects leverage our multidisciplinary expertise in optical design, machine-learning analysis, spectroscopy, molecular imaging, electromechanical instrumentation, contrast agents, tissue processing, and preclinical/clinical validation.

Jon Liu Lab Research

Our lab is developing non-destructive slide-free 3D pathology methods for clinical decision support and surgical guidance, as well as for biological investigations.

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Lab Team

Meet the dedicated scientists and students driving discovery in our lab—collaborating to advance research and innovation every day.

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Lab Publications

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Lab Contact Information

Lab News

7/2026 – We have received a new R01 grant from the NIH / NIGMS entitled: “Multi-resolution open-top light-sheet expansion microscopy”

6/2026 – New publication in Nature Methods led by PhD student Huai-Ching Hsieh: “3D pathology-guided microdissection.” ReadCube open-access link and News & Views Commentary.

5/2026 – Article accepted and in press at Nature BME led by former PhD student Gan Gao: “Deep-learning triage of 3D pathology datasets for comprehensive and efficient pathologist assessments.” bioRxiv preprint link.

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Summer 2025 - Dr. Liu moves his lab from the University of Washington (Seattle) to Stanford University!

4/2025 - Our review/perspective article on "Imaging 3D cell cultures with optical microscopy" has been published in Nature Methods! This was a large collaborative effort led by graduate student Huai-Ching Hsieh.
ReadCube link

4/2025 - Dr. Liu has been elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), as described in this press release.

8/2024 - The Molecular Biophotonics Lab has been awarded a contract from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Heath (ARPA-H) entitled: "Comprehensive multi-resolution histology of surgical margin surfaces with volumetric co-registration." This 5-year project is led by Dr. Liu in collaboration with Alpenglow Biosciences, Harvard Medical School, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and UW Seattle. Link to UW press release

5/2024 - The Molecular Biophotonics Lab has been awarded an R01 grant from the NIH/NIDDK entitled: "Computational 3D pathology for Barrett's esophagus risk stratification." This is a 5-year collaborative project with Dr. Bill Grady at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center and Dr. Faisal Mahmood at Harvard (Brigham and Women's Hospital).