Joerg Bewersdorf

Joerg Bewersdorf's picture
Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Cell Biology
SHM I-Wing, E91
+1 (203) 737-5704
Research Areas: 
Biophysics
Research Type: 
Experimentalist
Current Projects: 

Optical instrumentation development for biological imaging: Nanoscopy, Localization Microscopy, PanExM, STED microscopy

Biographical Sketch: 

Joerg Bewersdorf is a Professor of Cell Biology and of Biomedical Engineering at Yale University. He received his Master’s degree (Dipl. Phys., 1998) and his doctoral degree in physics (Dr. rer. nat., 2002) training with Dr. Stefan W. Hell at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany. After 4 years at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, he relocated his research group to Yale University in 2009. An optical physicist/biophysicist by training, Dr. Bewersdorf has been a long-time contributor to the field of super-resolution light microscopy development and the application of these techniques to cell biological questions.

Research: 

Visualizing 3D structure and dynamics at the molecular scale is a current and critical need in biomedical research. Many sub-cellular features, for example the morphology of many organelles or the 3D organization of chromatin, cannot be resolved by standard light microscopy.

Improving the resolution of light microscopy has therefore been an urgent need of biological research for many decades. Today, several methods achieve sub-100 nm resolution by taking advantage of reversible or irreversible photo-physical switching properties of fluorescent markers.

Our research group in the Department of Cell Biology at Yale University School of Medicine is developing new fluorescence microscopy techniques with spatial and/or temporal resolutions going far beyond current technology and also applying them to a diverse set of biological questions.

Specialized Terms: Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy

Extensive Research Description

Our laboratory develops super-resolution Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) microscopy, Single-molecule Localization Microscopy (FPALM/PALM/STORM/PAINT, etc.) and pan-Expansion Microscopy (pan-ExM) techniques. We are actively developing to improve the capabilities (speed, 3D resolution, robustness, multicolor labeling) of these imaging techniques to expand the application range of super-resolution microscopy. In collaboration with a diverse set of research groups at Yale University and outside, we apply our new instruments to current biomedical questions, in particular related to the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi complex, the cell nucleus and cytokinesis.

Research Interests

Cell Nucleus; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Microscopy, Confocal; Cellular Structures

Education: 
Ph.D. 2002, University of Heidelberg
Honors & Awards: 
2022 - Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Cell Biology
Selected Publications: