CHEE Seminar: Judith Su
Monday, November 21, 2022 – 3:00 p.m.
Judith Su, PhD
Assistant Professor
Biomedical Engineering and Optical Sciences
University of Arizona
“Ultra-sensitive, Selective, and Label-free Optical Sensing for Fundamental Science, Environmental Monitoring, and Translational Medicine”
Harvill Bldg., Room 305
Social Hour immediately following seminar in Old Engineering 157 (Graduate Student Lounge), at 4:00 p.m.
ABSTRACT
Microtoroid optical resonators, when combined with frequency locking, balanced detection, and data processing techniques, are capable of label-free single molecule detection at attomolar concentrations in under 30 seconds. Dr. Su has developed such a system called FLOWER (frequency-locked optical whispering evanescent resonator). We discuss the principles of FLOWER, including noise analysis, and how, at such low concentrations, she can achieve sensing times on the order of seconds. In addition, she will discuss her ongoing work on using FLOWER for fundamental studies on taste, and a variety of applications including drug screening, medical diagnostics for ovarian cancer, and chemical threat sensing. She validates her technology against existing approaches and performs detection in complex biological fluids. Finally, Dr. Su discusses her next-generation sensing platforms, including how she combines FLOWER with frequency comb technology to enable simultaneous detection and absorption spectroscopy, our work on high-sensitivity photothermal spectroscopy, and our work towards a robust, portable, translatable device.
BIOSKETCH
Judith Su is an assistant professor in biomedical engineering and an assistant professor in optical sciences at the University of Arizona. Judith received her B.S. and M.S. from MIT in mechanical engineering and her Ph.D. from Caltech in biochemistry & molecular biophysics. Her background is in sensing, imaging, microfabrication, and optical instrument building for biological and medical applications. She is a recipient of an NIH R35 Outstanding Investigator Award and an American Society of Laser Surgery and Medicine Young Investigator Award. She was a Siegman International School on Lasers Lecturer and a Scialog: Chemical Machinery of the Cell Fellow. She is on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). She gave a keynote talk at SPIE Photonics West 2022 and is an incoming general chair for OSA’s 2023 Advanced Photonics Congress, Integrated Photonics Research (IPR) Conference.