Biomedical Optical Imaging Scientist to Lead Premier Laser Research Institute

UC Irvine has appointed Dr. Bernard Choi as Director of Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic, following a comprehensive national search. The appointment marks a new chapter for one of the world’s leading centers for biomedical photonics, laser medicine, and translational optical research.

A long-standing member of the UC Irvine research community, Dr. Choi has served as the Institute’s Interim Director for the past three years, guiding the team through a period of significant growth and scientific achievement. As Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Surgery, he bridges the School of Medicine and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering. His service as Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies in Biomedical Engineering further reflects a deep and abiding dedication to the university’s educational mission.

“The next chapter of the Institute is about translation, moving new innovations in optical and photonic technologies out of the laboratory and impacting patient care,” said Dr. Choi. “That vision only succeeds if we are equally committed to the educators and trainees who will carry this field forward.”

Dr. Choi earned his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. He went on to complete both his M.S.E. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

At the core of Dr. Choi’s scientific mission is the development of in vivo optical imaging methods for monitoring biological tissues in both normal and diseased states. Dr. Choi’s group is internationally recognized for advancing laser speckle imaging (LSI) to monitor blood flow in real time, alongside complementary modalities such as spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI). These techniques have been applied to intrasurgical monitoring, burn triage, hemorrhage monitoring, wound healing assessment, and cerebral blood flow measurement, establishing the Institute as a leader in translational biophotonics. His laboratory is world-renowned for pioneering work in optical clearing (the use of chemical agents to reduce the scattering properties of biological tissue). This technique enables high-resolution, three-dimensional optical imaging and opens new frontiers in understanding disease progression and response to novel therapies.

To date, Dr. Choi has authored 157 peer-reviewed publications and holds seven patents. He has secured competitive extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense (DoD), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and other federal sponsors.

Dr. Choi’s active research portfolio reflects a consistent ability to move optical science from the benchtop to the bedside. With NIH support, he is developing a wearable optical patch to continuously monitor tissue perfusion, blood oxygenation, and microvascular function in real time with broad implications for remote patient care and personalized medicine. Supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Dr. Choi is also developing an optical monitoring device to improve real-time assessment of maternal and fetal health during pregnancy and childbirth, addressing a critical gap in modern medicine. This work extends to field-deployable applications in military medicine, emergency response, and pre-hospital care.

Dr. Choi is equally invested in education and workforce development. He is establishing a UC Irvine Core Optical Laboratory Resource (COLR), a hands-on training facility for scientists, engineers, and clinicians in fundamental and applied optics and photonics. As co-PI of the Access to Careers in Engineering and Sciences (ACES) program, he leads an eight-week summer initiative providing undergraduate students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with immersive research experiences and mentorship in biomedical engineering and optical medicine. He also co-directs the NIH-funded Innovative Programs to Enhance Research Training (IPERT) program and serves as co-Principal Investigator (co-PI) on the NSF Team Science for Integrated Biomedical Engineering and Social Science Training (BEST) graduate training program. As PI of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)-funded Military Medical Photonics center at the Institute, he collaborates with researchers in translating optical science to military medicine.

As Director, Dr. Choi will oversee the Institute’s research portfolio, operations, educational programs, and strategic direction. He assumes leadership of an institution with a distinguished history of scientific excellence, interdisciplinary collaboration, and real-world clinical impact.

“For nearly four decades, the Institute has transformed the way light is used to understand, diagnose, and heal,” said Dr. Choi. “My priorities now are clear: accelerate the translation of optical science into patient care, strengthen biophotonics education at every level, and cultivate a strong network of supporters to sustain our life-changing work for decades to come.”

– Emily Mae Gong, UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering

April 14, 2026 – The Samueli Foundation has funded another round of the UCLA–UC Irvine Collaborative Grants Program. Established in 2024, the initiative pulls together faculty from both Samueli Schools of Engineering and is designed to deepen cross-campus partnerships and accelerate high-impact research.

Building on the momentum of the 2024 awards, this year’s program encourages ambitious, high-risk ideas under the theme “100× Multipliers.” The intent is to inspire exploratory, proof-of-concept projects that combine analysis, design and initial experimental demonstrations capable of positioning UCI–UCLA collaborative teams for future extramural research funding from federal agencies, foundations and industry.

“From reimagining how we trust artificial intelligence to unlocking the hidden workings of satellite networks, accelerating life-saving medical imaging, and enabling swarms of autonomous machines to operate at unprecedented scale, this year’s cohort reflects the remarkable breadth of what becomes possible when two world-class engineering schools work as one,” said Andre Shkel, UCI associate dean of research and innovation.

Here are the newly funded early career faculty collaborations.

Maxim Radikovich Shcherbakov (UCI), Md Shafayat Hossain (UCLA) 

Assistant Professors Maxim Shcherbakov, electrical engineering and computer science, and Md Shafayat Hossain, materials science and engineering, are developing a new kind of light detector that can sense the handedness, or circular polarization, of light without requiring an external power source. Today’s detectors that can do this are bulky, power-hungry and impractical for compact devices. By layering specially engineered nano-scale surfaces called chiral metasurfaces onto advanced quantum materials, the team aims to amplify the electrical signal produced by polarized light by up to 100 times all within a small, chip-compatible design. If successful, this technology could transform how light-based information is processed in applications ranging from augmented reality and infrared sensing to ultrafast communications and quantum computing.

Fei Xia (UCI), Liang Gao (UCLA) 

ei Xia, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and Liang Gao, associate professor of bioengineering, are working together to dramatically speed up how scientists capture 3D images of living tissue. Today’s best microscopes can only capture about one 3D image per second of deep tissue, which is far too slow to observe rapid biological events like brain activity or immune responses in real time. By combining a cutting-edge optical technique called squeezed light-field microscopy with advanced computational algorithms, the researchers aim to achieve imaging speeds of over 1,000 frames per second — a leap of 100 to 1,000 times faster than current technology. If successful, this could unlock entirely new discoveries in neuroscience, cancer biology and beyond, enabling scientists to observe biological processes in living tissue that were previously impossible to capture.

Click here or visit https://bit.ly/samueli-foundation-ucla-collab to read full article on the UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering website.

The National Eye Institute recently elected Lilangi Ediriwickrema, MD, to the Council of Vision Editors Fellow Program (CVEF).

Lilangi Ediriwickrema, MD, is a board-certified UCI Health ophthalmologist who specializes in ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery, neuro-ophthalmology and orbital disease.

The National Eye Institute (NEI) worked with the editors-in-chief of 7 leading vision journals to create a two-year program, the Council of Vision Editors Fellowship, in which early-career vision scientists will learn about academic peer review, the publication process, and editorial board processes.

Ediriwickrema’s translational research interests include validating biomarkers of periocular disease. She has also been listed as a Top Doctor by Castle Connolly as well as a Physician of Excellence by the Orange County Medical Association.

As a dedicated faculty member of the UC Irvine Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, Ediriwickrema continues to advance our understanding of reconstructive eye surgery and various orbital eye diseases.

Click here to read announcement on the UC Irvine School of Medicine website.

– Lori Brandt, UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering

March 12, 2026 – Fei Xia, UC Irvine assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, has been selected as a Scialog Fellow by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA). She is one of 50 Scialog Fellows — outstanding early to mid-career researchers from U.S. academic institutions – who are part of an initiative to develop innovative ideas through research, dialogue and collaboration.

Xia’s research focuses on developing next-generation optical microscopy and computational imaging frameworks to probe the brain and its microenvironment in vivo. By integrating innovations in imaging hardware, physics-based simulations and AI-driven computation, her lab aims to achieve higher spatiotemporal resolution, deeper penetration into brain tissue and more information-rich views of living brains. “These advances will help reveal the brain’s structure, dynamics and functional responses with unprecedented clarity,” said Xia.

As a Scialog Fellow, she will participate in the Scialog: Neurobiology and Changing Ecosystems program. The three-year series aims to create a dynamic community of early career scientists with diverse scientific expertise and perspectives – cell biology, genetics, neurophysiology, climate science, environmental chemistry, physical modeling, toxicology and other fields. It is sponsored by RCSA, Allen Family Philanthropies, the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation and the Kavli Foundation. Together, they will develop collaborative research projects to explore neurobiological response to change and advance understanding of the brain’s chemistry, physiology and adaptation mechanisms that allow survival under environmental stress.

“This collaborative program will accelerate our efforts to develop next-generation optical microscopy to image dynamic processes in living systems,” said Xia. “I’m excited to exchange ideas, build new collaborations, and work together toward deeper insights into how the brain adapts to changing environments.”

Xia is also a faculty member of Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic, UCI Center for Neural Circuit Mapping, UCI Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders and the UCI Eddleman Quantum Institute.

Click here to read full article on the UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering website.

Michelle Khine, Amir Rahmani, and Bernard Choi receive federal funding to build a smart, wearable device capable of detecting life-threatening blood loss before it becomes fatal, with a critical focus on real-time monitoring in the operating room.

Drs. Michelle Khine and Bernard Choi of UC Irvine Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic and Dr. Amir Rahmani of the School of Nursing have been awarded a two-year $408,504 grant from the National Institute on Aging to develop a groundbreaking wearable patch that can monitor a patient’s blood flow and detect dangerous bleeding in real time, especially in the operating room on patients at high risk for hemorrhage.

Trauma is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with a significant portion of those deaths caused by severe bleeding, or hemorrhage. Hemorrhagic shock is especially deadly, as the warning signs are often subtle and go undetected until a patient is already in critical condition.

Current monitoring tools in hospitals, operating rooms, and emergency settings are often bulky, invasive, or unable to catch early warning signs. The problem is compounded by racial disparities in trauma outcomes, where patients may receive delayed or less accurate care, as existing monitoring technologies do not perform equally well across all skin tones.

To address these challenges, Drs. Khine, Rahmani, and Choi are developing a novel, integrated, wearable hemodynamic platform designed for the early detection and management of hemorrhage. The device combines miniaturized sensor technologies, including Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), laser speckle imaging, and diffuse optical spectroscopy. By integrating these technologies with machine learning algorithms, the patch can continuously monitor vital signs and blood flow, enabling faster and more accurate interventions.

“By developing a wearable technology that monitors vital signs and predicts the risk of bleeding – a preventable factor in many cases – our goal is to make early detection and intervention possible, potentially saving millions of lives,” said Bernard Choi, interim director of the Institute.

The project will advance in three major phases. First, the patch will undergo lab validation to confirm that the device can accurately track vital signs and blood loss indicators. Researchers will then build and refine a machine learning model using the data collected to identify early warning patterns. Finally, the device will be tested on patients in an operating room setting, particularly those at high risk for bleeding during or after surgery.

If successful, the technology could transform trauma care by providing a reliable, non-invasive, and comprehensive monitoring system capable of detecting hemorrhage at its earliest stages. By improving the speed and accuracy of medical interventions in the operating room and across care settings, this technology has the potential to save lives and advance emergency and trauma medicine.

Click here to learn more.