Dr. Puxiang Lai received Bachelor of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering from Tsinghua University, China in 2002, Master of Science in Acoustics from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005, and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Boston University, USA in 2011. After that, Dr. Lai joined Dr Lihong Wang’s Optical Imaging Lab in the Washington University in St. Louis as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. In September 2015, he joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University as tenure-tracked Assistant Professor.
Dr. Lai’s research focuses on the development of novel biomedical imaging, therapy, and manipulation modalities by using light and sound. Current research interests include, but are not limited to, optical wavefront shaping, adaptive optics, photoacoustic imaging, acousto-optic imaging, optogenetics, as well as application of artificial intelligence techniques in biomedical diagnosis and imaging. Thus far, his research has fueled more than 30 top journal publications (including two first-authored in Nature Photonics and Nature Communications, respectively), more than 60 invited or contributing talks at international conferences with several best awards. Dr. Lai has also been invited to give seminars in many famous universities and research institutions, and served as editor or reviewer for more than 25 premium journals. Since joining BME at PolyU, he aims to continue his research on deep-tissue probing and treatment by using light and sound, which has been supported by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong Research Grants Council, the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission. He has been awarded the Chinese National 1000 Talent Plan Youth Scholar, the Hong Kong RGC Early Career Award, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic Univerity Faculty of Engineering Research Grant Achievement Award.