About

Welcome to CLIMB!  The Center for Label-free Imaging and Multiscale Biophotonics. CLIMB is an NIH National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Biomedical Technology Research Resource (P41 Center). CLIMB is located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in our interdisciplinary Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Through our three Technology Research and Development Projects (TRDs), our current eight Collaborative Projects, and our eight Service Projects, we have a national and international network of researchers investigating cutting-edge optical imaging and sensing methods, along with developing novel computational imaging and AI/ML algorithms, to enable label-free optical imaging technologies for both clinical applications as well as basic biological discovery. Prof. Rohit Bhargava and Prof. Yang Liu, Co-Leads for TRD1, are developing quantitative phase imaging approaches to visualize cells and tissues in unique ways. Prof. Mark Anastasio, Lead for TRD3, is developing computational imaging approaches with intelligent specificity, and I, as Lead for TRD2, am developing quantitative label-free imaging technologies for clinical and in-vivo imaging. These TRD projects, along with a wide range of applications and investigators in our Collaborative and Service Projects, are coupled with educational programming in optics and biophotonics, along with entrepreneurial and commercialization training, to ensure rapid translation of label-free technology into first-in-human clinical studies and eventually toward commercialization, dissemination, clinical trials, adoption, and impact. With intent, we are also developing pathway opportunities to enhance inclusivity, accessibility, and the diversity of our center faculty, researchers, and student trainees.

We would like to thank NIH/NIBIB for the support to launch CLIMB, as well as the additional support from the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, The Grainger College of Engineering, and the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

We also thank the many administrative contributions made to the development and operation of our Center, including Frank Brooks, Marina Marjanovic, Darold Spillman, Alejandra Pires, and the Beckman staff. We look forward to advancing and translating label-free optical imaging and biophotonics across multiple scales, from cells to clinic, and welcome your collaborative interests and ideas. Come CLIMB with us!

Stephen Boppart, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, NIH P41 Center for Label-free Imaging and Multiscale Biophotonics (CLIMB)