Lei Li is currently a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Medical Engineering at Caltech. In 2019, he obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Caltech. His overarching research goal is to develop new medical imaging technology that uses light to visualize brain functions and cancer progression. Toward this goal, he has developed advanced photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT)—an imaging modality that combines light and sound for deep-tissue imaging—to non-invasively visualize wholebody dynamics, study brain functions, detect tumor growth and metastasis, and navigate microrobots inside the body. He also shapes the benchtop system towards a wearable device. These works enable wide-range applications in neuroscience, cancer research, and clinical translation. He is now combining light, sound and artificial intelligence to detect early-stage cancer and better understand the brain.
Areas of Expertise
biophotonics, medical imaging, optical imaging