Ke Xu is an associate professor of Chemistry at UC-Berkeley. Ke received his B.S. from Tsinghua University, did Ph.D. work with Prof. Jim Heath at Caltech, and performed postdoctoral research with Prof. Xiaowei Zhuang at Harvard University. Ke joined UC-Berkeley in 2013. His current research develops new physicochemical tools to interrogate biological, chemical, and materials systems at the nanoscale with extraordinary resolution, sensitivity, and functionality. To this end, his lab takes a multidimensional approach that integrates advanced microscopy, spectroscopy, cell biology, and nanotechnology. Ke has been named a Sloan Research Fellow, a Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering, a Beckman Young Investigator, a Pew Biomedical Scholar, a Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator, and the C&EN Talented 12, and has received an NSF CAREER Award and an NIH Director's New Innovator Award.

Wan obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from Tsinghua University. She received her Ph.D. degree from Cornell University, where she worked with Prof. Dan Ralph on graphene electrochemistry and spintronics. After a brief postdoc in Prof. Jay Groves' lab at UC-Berkeley, where she integrated graphene with supported lipid bilayers, she joined Xu lab and is currently a Research Scientist. Her current research integrates single-molecule and graphene microscopy with chemical reactions and molecular interactions.

Changdong obtained his bachelor degree and Ph.D. degree from Peking University. He joined Ke Xu group in Fall 2021. Changdong did his Ph.D. research with Prof. Suwei Dong where he investigated the glycopeptide assembly and glycoprotein phase separation. His current interests involve investigating protein phase separation using super-resolution microscopy in vitro and in vivo.

Collin graduated from Kalamazoo College in 2017 with a B.A. in chemistry and a concentration in biological physics. He completed a Ph.D. in chemistry at UC Berkeley with Prof. Graham Fleming in 2022, where he utilized various techniques in time-resolved laser spectroscopy to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying photoprotection in intact plants and algae. As a postdoc in the Xu group, Collin’s current research interests center around imaging dynamic processes in intact biological systems with high spatial resolution.

Megan graduated with a B.A. in Chemistry and Art History from Messiah College in 2017, and obtained her Ph.D. in Chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University in 2022. At Penn State, Megan worked with Prof. Ken Knappenberger to study the nonlinear optical properties and photophysics of 2D materials and develop new methods for nonlinear optical microscopy. She joined the Xu lab in 2022 and is an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow since 2024. Her research develops novel multidimensional single-molecule super-resolution microscopy techniques for application to both chemical and biological systems.

Tyler did his undergraduate at Colorado State University where he worked under Dr. Jean Chung to study the interaction of bee venom proteins on synthetic membranes. He joined Xu Lab in 2021 and now pursues a Ph.D. in biophysics, utilizing super-resolution microscopy and single-molecule spectroscopy to study cellular membranes.

Sinyoung graduated from the Penn State University in 2021 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Sinyoung worked with Cremer’s lab, where she studied the bioinorganic chemistry of lipid bilayers, and with Bull’s lab, where she studied mushroom bacterial pathogens with phage therapy. Her current research interest is the high-resolution imaging of live cells.

Ayana graduated from Trinity College with a B.S. in Chemistry, where she worked with Prof. Lindsey Hanson on the synthesis of epoxy-gold nanoparticle composites and their characterizations in terms of optical, thermal, and mechanical properties. She joined Xu Lab in 2023, and her current research interests center around nanoscale chemistry, including the application of super-resolution microscopy techniques to biological systems.

Tong did her undergraduate at Tsinghua University, where she worked with Prof. Liang Ge to study the unconventional protein secretion pathway, and also with Prof. Wei Xie to study epigenomics in early embryonic development. She joined Xu Lab in 2023 and now pursues a Ph.D. in chemical biology with interests in using super-resolution microscopy to better understand protein transport.

Qikai Zhang obtained his bachelor and master degrees from Peking University. He joined the Ke Xu group in 2024 Fall. In his previous studies, Qikai focused on investigating the impact of glycosylation on amyloid protein aggregation through protein chemical synthesis, as well as developing novel protein synthesis facilitating strategies. His current research interests involve studying the spatial distribution and diffusion behavior of DNA/RNA-binding proteins within cells using single-molecule super-resolution imaging, with implications for biological and medical research.

Hansen is a Chemistry major and joined the group in summer 2023. He is studying the biophysical properties of lipid membranes.

Vaibhav is a chemistry major in the College of Chemistry. He joined the group in the spring of 2024.

Albert is a chemical biology major in the College of Chemistry. He joined the group in the spring of 2022.

Bret graduated from Xu Lab with a Ph.D. in 2024. In Xu Lab, he developed single-molecule and super-resolution microscopy to address wide-ranging biological questions, from novel mitochondrial proteins to cytoskeletal systems in developmental and stressed/disease states. Moreover, he elucidated stunning hypersensitivity of the vimentin cytoskeleton to net-charge states and Coulomb repulsion in mammalian cells.

Alex was a graduate student from Fall 2019 to Spring 2024. His thesis, titled 'Single-Molecule and Super-Resolution Microscopy of Fast Intracellular Diffusion,' focused on developing and applying methodologies in single-molecule displacement mapping (SMdM) to diverse systems. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford, working with Stanley Qi in the Bioengineering department to develop new CRISPR imaging technologies.

Ha was a graduate student in the Xu group from 2018 to 2023, focused on high-throughput single-molecule diffusivity measurements. He studied macromolecular diffusion behaviors in nanometer-sized meshwork structures, and established a convolutional neural network model that generates a correlative diffusion coefficient map from single-molecule fluorescence imaging. He is now a consultant at Boston Consulting Group in Seoul.

Bowen was a graduate student in the Xu group from 2017 to 2022. In the Xu group, he led the development of super-resolution microscopy methods and their application to nanoscale subcellular structures, including the discovery of two distinct forms of endoplasmic reticulum tubules in the mammalian cell. He is now an investor at Monolith Management, a tech-driven venture capital firm.

Yunqi was a graduate student in the Xu group from 2017 to 2022, where she led the development and application of interference reflection microscopy (IRM) for the label-free characterization of graphene to visualize its reactions and mechanical behaviors at the nanoscale. She is currently a Consultant at Bain & Company in China.

Rui was a graduate student in the Xu group from 2015 to 2021, focusing on the development of functional super-resolution microscopy and its applications in biophysics and cell biology. He also studied the mechanisms of intracellular membrane trafficking and cytoskeletal organization using various fluorescence microscopy techniques. Upon graduation, he moved to Boston for a Helen Hay Whitney postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Dr. Clifford Tabin at Harvard Medical School, investigating embryonic gut patterning through quantitative live imaging.

Kun was a postdoc in the Xu Lab from 2017 to 2021, where he led the development of single-molecule displacement/diffusivity microscopy and excitation spectral fluorescence microscopy, and their applications in cell biology. Kun is starting his new lab at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

Limin was a postdoc in the Xu Lab from Aug 2016 to Mar 2021. He developed single-molecule displacement/diffusivity mapping (SMdM) technique, extended spectral SMLM to surface systems, witnessed Ke’s tenure promotion, and became a father in the meantime. He is now professor at Wuhan University in China. Limin left the lab during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he hopes to come back to say a “true” goodbye to everyone soon in the future!

Jeongmin was a postdoc in the Xu Lab from 2019 to 2020, where he led the development of oblique-plane single-molecule localization microscopy. Jeongmin is starting his new lab at Seoul National University [Link].

Seonah was a graduate student in the Xu group from 2014, and graduated in 2019 with her Ph.D. In the Xu group, her research focused on implementing new methods for spectrally-resolved super-resolution microscopy and applying them to biological systems. She also took part in a few graphene-related projects. She is now a Yield Engineer at Intel Corporation in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Meghan joined the Xu group in Fall 2013, graduated with her Ph.D. in 2017, and then briefly stayed as a postdoc. Her research focused on the development of correlative microscopy methods and the application of super-resolution microscopy to both biological and inorganic materials systems. She is now an analyst at the boutique consulting firm, Clark Street Associates, in Mountain View, where she works with companies in the technology industry to optimize their businesses.

Sam was a graduate student in the Xu group from 2013 to 2018. His research encompassed the development of multicolor super-resolution microscopy and image analysis methodologies, as well as their application to cellular membranes and other biological systems. He is now a data scientist at Faire, a San Francisco-based wholesale retail company.

Michal started his graduate studies as Prof. Xu's first student during the summer of 2013, and graduated with his Ph.D. in 2018. In the Xu Lab, he played a key role in the development and application of multiple novel microscopy techniques to biological and materials systems. He is currently a Life Sciences Specialist at L.E.K. Consulting in Los Angeles.

Doory was a postdoc in the Xu Lab from 2016 to 2017, where she extended spectrally resolved STORM to single-molecule reactions. She is starting her new lab at Hanyang University [Link].

Leiting Pan was a visting scholar in the Xu Lab from December 2015 to December 2016, where he led super-resolution microscopy work on erythrocytes. He is currently professor at Nankai Univerisity [Link].

Zhengyang was a postdoc in the Xu Lab from 2014 to 2016, where he led the development of spectrally resolved STORM super-resolution microscopy. Zhengyang is now starting as a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at Nanyang Technological University [Link].