Xingde Li, PhD

Research Interests

My research focuses on advancing cutting-edge neurophotonics and translational biophotonics technologies that seamlessly connect engineering with fundamental research and medical applications. This interdisciplinary research and training program involves the vertical integration of various fields, such as optics, electrical engineering, micro-nano technology, biology, and clinical medicine. The overarching objective of our work is to enhance our ability to detect diseases at early and manageable stages, monitor the effectiveness of treatments, and guide interventions. These technologies also open new avenues for fundamental research, exploring new territories of disease mechanisms, brain function, biomarker discovery, and integrated diagnosis and therapy (theranostics). Specific areas of interest include:

Technologies

• Optical Coherence Tomography
• Two-photon Fiberscopy/Endomicroscopy
• Multimodal Imaging
• Mass Spectrometry Imaging
• AI-assisted Image Analysis and Acquisition

Disease Diagnosis & Intervention Guidance

• Label-free and Noninvasive Optical Histology in vivo
• Intra-operative Guidance
• GI Tract (dysplasia and inflammation)
• Airway (cancer and COPD)
• Pre-term Birth Risk Assessment

Basic Research

• Functional Brain Imaging in Freely-behaving Animals

Titles

• Professor, Biomedical Engineering
• Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
• Professor, Oncology

Affiliated Centers & Institutes

• Carnegie Center for Surgical Innovation
• Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute

Education

• PhD, Physics and Biomedical Optics, University of Pennsylvania, 1998
• BS, Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, 1990

Recent Highlights

April 28, 2022

From Blurry to Bright: AI Tech Helps Researchers Peer into the Brains of Mice

Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) training strategy to capture images of mouse brain cells in...

• March 10, 2021
  Two researchers with ties to Hopkins BME earn grants through Bisciotti Foundation Translational Fund
  Two Johns Hopkins professors with ties to the Department of Biomedical Engineering have received grants for their research through the Bisciotti Foundation Translational Fund.
• February 8, 2018
  Lights, camera, action! New endomicroscopic probes visualize living animal cell activity
  Johns Hopkins researchers report they have developed two new endoscopic probes that significantly sharpen the technology’s imaging resolution and permit direct observation of fine tissue structures and cell activity in small organs in sheep, rats, and mice.
• December 20, 2017
  Upstarts: For Heartburn…And More
  Patients with chronic acid reflux and other esophageal issues run an increased risk of cancer. A fiber-optic endomicroscope developed from research done by Xingde Li is likely to significantly improve diagnosis and treatment.

Media

One of our group’s projects was selected as a top research highlight in 2015 (beginning at 2:22).