Yuqiang Bai, Ph.D

Contact Info 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
MDC 3115
Tampa FL 33612

Academic Email: yuqiangbai@usf.edu

View My C.V.

View My Website

Biography

I am a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of South Florida (USF) conducting research on dry eye disease with multiple optical imaging techniques. During my PhD studies, I primarily focused on utilizing broadband, ultrashort laser pulses for complementary contrast mechanisms in multimodal microscopy (supervised by Dr. Alvin T. Yeh). During that time, I developed a multimodal imaging platform, integrating multiphoton microscopy (MPM) with optical coherence tomography (OCT) techniques, for intravital studies of biological processes and responses within 3D living tissues. As a result of that interdisciplinary research between biomedical science and engineering, I gained significant experience in nonlinear optics, optical microscopy, cell culture, tissue engineering, and biomechanics. During my first postdoc training in the laboratory of Dr. Jessica C. Ramella-Roman at Florida International University, I developed the combination of polarization-sensitive OCT (PS-OCT) and Mueller matrix polarimetry to study anisotropic biological tissues. In my second postdoc and research staff at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), I focused on the development of advanced optical microscopy, interferometry, and OCT to understand the dynamic tear film processes taking place in normal ocular surface health and dry eye disease under the supervision of Dr. Jason J. Nichols.

Research Interests

• R21 EY033029
• Bai (PI)
• 08/01/2021-07/31/2024 (No cost extension) Development of a supercontinuum laser source interferometer with sub-micron resolution to understand tear film structure and function in dry eye disease
• The long-term goal is to develop a novel, high-resolution imaging system with a state-of-the-art supercontinuum light source that yields high signal detection efficiency for use in human tear film assessment and disease diagnosis and management.
• R01 EY034990
• Bai (PI)
• 5/1/2023-4/31/2028
• Correlating the microstructural thickness variations of the tear film lipid layer with clinical characteristics of dry eye with a novel optical method
• The long-term goal of this proposal is to characterize the microstructural thickness variations of the tear film lipid layer and their association with clinical characteristics of dry eye disease