Young Jong Lee

Young Jong Lee received a Ph.D. degree from Seoul National University in 2001 for work on time-resolved laser spectroscopy of atomic and molecular excited states. In 2002, he joined the University of Texas at Austin as a postdoctoral fellow and worked on ultrafast laser spectroscopy of the hydrated electron dynamics and single-molecule spectroscopy of conjugated polymers. Since he joined NIST in 2006, he has been developing new hyperspectral imaging technologies based on coherent Raman microscopy to measure the quantitative and structural information of complex materials and biological systems. His research has been extended to development of new spectroscopic methods for non-invasive, high-sensitivity characterization of higher-order structures of protein and polymers.

CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS

Development of New Measurement Technology

• Label-free chemical imaging by broadband coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (BCARS) microscopy
• Advanced hyper-sensitivity IR spectroscopy to characterize the higher order structure of protein using quantum cascade lasers (QCL)
• Imaging the 3D angles and the order parameter of molecular orientation using polarization-controlled IR/Raman microscopy
• Advanced analysis of complex spectra using 2-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS)
• Fast kinetics imaging to study photopolymerization reaction

Therapeutic Proteins

• Spectral identification of the higher-order structure of protein
• Biophysical stability (unfolding/aggregation) of formulation drugs

Soft Matter Physics

• Molecular structure of semicrystalline polymers
• Structural changes of polymers under mechanical strain
• Advanced 3D printing for composition-controlled products

Cell Systems and Tissues

• Label-free functional imaging of stem cells for regenerative medicine
• In-situ, non-invasive spectroscopic measurement of cell viability

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Postdocs or Guest Researchers:  open to either non-US citizens or US citizens. If interested in any projects described above, please send an email to youngjong.lee@nist.gov. 

NRC Postdoctoral Fellowship:  US citizens only. Please visit the following opportunities.

• Coherent Raman Imaging of Biomineralization Processes in Stem Cells
• Advanced Coherent Raman Imaging for Polymer Physics
• Advanced Vibrational Spectroscopy of Higher Order Structures of Protein

Download | Image info

(left) Label-free chemical imaging of stem cell differentiation by BCARS (AD: adipogenic, and OS: osteogenic) in Tissue Eng. Part C, 20, 562 (2014). (top center) BCARS composite image of a polyethylene blend (h-LLDPE: red; and d-HDPE: green) in ACS Macro Lett. 1, 1347 (2012). (top right) QCL-IR absorption spectra of NISTmAb (b-sheet rich) and BSA (a-helix rich) solutions of 10 mg/mL. (bottom) A schematic of 3D orientation angle determination by polarization IR spectroscopy in Opt. Express 26, 337895 (2018)

PUBLICATIONS (PEER-REVIEWED)

• B. Chon, J. Truong, M. Hansen, J. Hahm, Y. J. Lee, Position- and Polarization-Specific Waveguiding in Single ZnO Nanorods, ACS Photonics, in review, (2019)
• Y. J. Lee, Concurrent Polarization IR Analysis to Determine the 3D Angles and the Order Parameter for Molecular Orientation Imaging, Opt. Express 26, 24577 (2018).
• I. S. Ryu, X. Liu, Y. Jin, J. Sun, and Y. J. Lee, Stoichiometric analysis of competing intermolecular hydrogen bonds using infrared spectroscopy, RSC Advances 8, 23481 (2018).
• Y. Jin, A. P. Kotula, A. R. Hight Walker, K. B. Migler, Y. J. Lee, Raman Identification of Multiple Melting Peaks of Polyethylene, Macromolecules 50, 6174 (2017).
• Y. J. Lee, Least Squares Moving-Window Spectral Analysis, Appl. Spectrosc. 71, 1894 (2017).
• Y. J. Lee, Analytical and Numerical Characterization of Autocorrelation and Perturbation-Correlation Moving-Window Methods, Appl. Spectrosc. 71, 1321 (2017).
• P. Manescu, Y. J. Lee, C. Camp, M. Cicerone, M. Brady, P. Bajcsy, Accurate and Interpretable Classification of Microspectroscopy Pixels Using Artificial Neural Networks, Medical Image Analysis 37, 37 (2017).
• D. V. Samarov, D. Allen, J. Hwang, Y. J. Lee, M. Litorja, A Coordinate Descent based approach to solving the Sparse Group Elastic Net, Technometrics 59, 437 (2017)
• Y. Jin, A. P. Kotula, A. R. Hight Walker, K. B. Migler, Y. J. Lee, Phase-Specific Raman Analysis of n-Alkane Melting by Moving-Window Two-Dimensional Correlation Spectroscopy, J. Raman Spectrosc. 47, 1375 (2016).
• C. H. Camp Jr., Y. J. Lee, M. T. Cicerone, Quantitative, Comparable Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) Spectroscopy: Correcting Errors in Phase Retrieval, J. Raman Spectrosc. 47, 408 (2016).
• I. S. Ryu, C. H. Camp Jr., Y. Jin, M. T. Cicerone, Y. J. Lee, Beam Scanning for Rapid Coherent Raman Hyperspectral Imaging, Opt. Lett. 40, 5826 (2015).
• Y. J. Lee, Determination of 3D Molecular Orientation by Concurrent Polarization Analysis of Multiple Raman Modes in Broadband CARS Spectroscopy, Opt. Express 23, 29279 (2015).
• N. V. Gohad, N. Aldred, C. M. Hartshorn, Y. J. Lee, M. T. Cicerone, B. Orihuela, A. S. Clare, D. Rittschof, A. S. Mount, Synergistic Roles for Lipids and Proteins in the Permanent Adhesive of Barnacle Larvae, Nat. Commun. 5, 4414 (2014).
• C. H. Camp Jr., Y. J. Lee, J. M. Heddleston, C. M. Hartshorn, A. R. Hight Walker, J. Rich, J. Lathia, M. T. Cicerone, High-Speed Coherent Raman Fingerprint Imaging of Biological Tissues, Nat. Photonics 8, 627 (2014).
• Y. J. Lee, S. L. Vega, P. J. Patel, K. A. Aamer, P. V. Moghe, M. T. Cicerone, Quantitative, Label-Free Characterization of Stem Cell Differentiation at the Single-Cell Level by Broadband Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Microscopy, Tissue Eng. Part C 20, 562 (2014).
• C. M. Hartshorn, Y. J. Lee, C. H. Camp Jr., Z. Liu, J. M. Heddleston, N. Canfield, T. A. Rhodes, A. R. Hight Walker, P. Marsac, M. T. Cicerone, Multicomponent Chemical Imaging of Pharmaceutical Solid Dosage Forms with Broadband CARS Microscopy, Anal. Chem. 85, 8102 (2013).
• Y. J. Lee, C. R. Snyder, A. M. Forster, M. T. Cicerone, W. Wu, Imaging the Molecular Structure of Polyethylene Blends with Broadband Coherent Raman Microscopy, ACS Macro Lett. 1, 1347 (2012).
• J. P. Dunkers, Y. J. Lee, K. Chatterjee, Single Cell Viability Measurements in 3D Scaffolds Using in situ Label Free Imaging by Optical Coherence Microscopy. Biomaterials 33, 2119 (2012)
• P. V. Afonso, M. Janka-Junttila, Y. J. Lee, C. P. McCann, C. M. Oliver, K. A. Aamer, W. Losert, M. T. Cicerone, C. A. Parent, LTB₄ Is a Signal Relay Molecule for Neutrophil Chemotaxis. Developmental Cell 22, 1079 (2012).
• M. T. Cicerone, K. A. Aamer, Y. J. Lee, E. Vartianen, Maximum Entropy and Time-Domain Kramers–Kronig Phase Retrieval Approaches Are Functionally Equivalent for CARS Micro-Spectroscopy. J. Raman Spectrosc. 43, 637 (2012).
• Y. J. Lee, D. Moon, K. B. Migler, M. T. Cicerone, Quantitative Image Analysis of Broadband CARS Hyperspectral Images of Polymer Blends. Anal. Chem. 83, 2733 (2011).
• Y. J. Lee, S. H. Parekh, F. A. Fagan, M. T. Cicerone, Phonon Dephasing and Population Decay Dynamics of the G-band of Semiconducting Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes. Phys. Rev. B 82, 165432 (2010).
• S. H. Parekh, Y. J. Lee, K. A. Aamer, M. T. Cicerone, Label-Free Cellular Imaging by Broadband Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Microscopy. Biophys. J. 99, 2695 (2010).
• K. Chatterjee, S. Lin-Gibson, W. E. Wallace, S. H. Parekh, Y. J. Lee, M. T. Cicerone, M. F. Young, C. G. Simon, Jr., The Effect of 3D Hydrogel Scaffold Modulus on Osteoblast Differentiation and Mineralization Revealed by Combinatorial Screening Biomaterials. Biomaterials 31, 5051 (2010).
• Y. J. Lee, S. H. Parekh, Y. H. Kim, M. T. Cicerone, Optimized Continuum from a Photonic Crystal Fiber for Broadband Time-Resolved Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering. Opt. Express 18, 4371 (2010).
• Y. Liu, Y. J. Lee, M. T. Cicerone, Broadband CARS Spectral Phase Retrieval Using a Time-Domain Kramers–Kronig Transform. Opt. Lett. 34, 1363 (2009).
• Y. J. Lee, M. T. Cicerone, Single-Shot Interferometric Approach to Background Free Broadband Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Spectroscopy. Opt. Express 17, 123 (2009).
• Y. Liu, Y. J. Lee, M. T. Cicerone, Fast Extraction of Resonant Vibrational Response from CARS Spectra with Arbitrary Nonresonant Background. J. Raman Spectrosc. 40, 726 (2009).
• Y. J. Lee, M. T. Cicerone, Vibrational Dephasing Time Imaging by Time-Resolved Broadband Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Microscopy. Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 041108 (2008).
• Y. J. Lee, Y. Liu, M. T. Cicerone, Characterization of 3-Color CARS in a 2-Pulse Broadband CARS Spectrum. Opt. Lett. 32, 3370 (2007).

= University of Texas at Austin =

• Y. J. Lee, D. Y. Kim, P. F. Barbara, Effects of Sample Preparation and Excitation Conditions on the Single Molecule Spectroscopy of Conjugated Polymers. J. Phys. Chem. B 110, 9739 (2006).
• Y. J. Lee, S.-J. Park, A. J. Gesquiere, P. F. Barbara, Probing a Molecular Interface in a Functioning Organic Diode. Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 051906 (2005).
• Y. J. Lee, D. Y. Kim, J. K. Grey, P. F. Barbara, Variable Temperature Single-Molecule Dynamics of MEH–PPV. ChemPhysChem 6, 2404 (2005).
• J. K. Grey, D. Y. Kim, Y. J. Lee, J. J. Gutierrez, N. Luong, J. P. Ferraris, P. F. Barbara, Single Molecule Studies of Electronic Energy Transfer in a Diblock Conjugated Polymer. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 44, 6207 (2005).
• P. F. Barbara, A. J. Gesquiere, S.-J. Park, Y. J. Lee, Single Molecule Spectroscopy of Conjugated Polymers. Acc. Chem. Res. 38, 602 (2005).
• A. J. Gesquiere, Y. J. Lee, J. Yu, P. F. Barbara, Single Molecule Modulation Spectroscopy of Conjugated Polymers. J. Phys. Chem. B 109, 12366 (2005).
• T. Zhang, Y. J. Lee, T. W. Kee, P. F. Barbara, The Mechanism of Electron–Cation Geminate Recombination in Liquid Isooctane. Chem. Phys. Lett. 403, 257 (2005).
• Y. J. Lee, T. Zhang, P. F. Barbara, Kinetics of Electron Attachment to Reverse Micelles. J. Phys. Chem. B 108, 5175 (2004).
• Y. J. Lee, T. W. Kee, T. Zhang, P. F. Barbara, Pump–Probe Spectroscopy of the Hydrated Electron in Reverse Micelles. J. Phys. Chem. B 108, 3474 (2004).

= Seoul National University =

• Y. J. Lee, S. H. Cho, N. J. Kim, S. K. Kim, Experimental Determination of the Ratio of Partial Photoionization Cross Sections from Na 3p ²P_3/2 by Polarization Anisotropy Quantum Beats. Mol. Phys. 110, 1781 (2012).
• S. M. Jin, Y. J. Lee, J. Yu, S. K. Kim, Development of Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy: Stimulated Raman Gain via Elimination of Cross Phase Modulation. Bull. Korean Chem. Soc. 25, 1829 (2004).
• Y. J. Lee, N. W. Song, S. K. Kim, Photoluminescence of C₆₀ and Its Photofragments in the Gas Phase. J. Phys. Chem. A 106, 5582 (2002).
• Y. J. Lee, S. H. Cho, N. J. Kim, S. K. Kim, Anisotropy Quantum Beat in Two-Photon Ionization of Coherently Excited Hyperfine States of Na. J. Chem. Phys. 115, 739 (2001).
• N. W. Song, Y. J. Lee, S. K. Kim, D. Kim, Comment on “Nanosecond-Gated Detection of Room-Temperature Fluorescence of C₆₀ in Solution.” Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 2634 (1994).