Na Ji
Biophysicist Faculty Scientist
Biography
Na Ji received her B.S. in Chemical Physics from the University of Science & Technology of China in 2000. She received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California Berkeley in 2005, working in the lab of Yuen-Ron Shen at UC Berkeley Physics Department. She worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Materials Sciences Division of LBNL for 10 months, before moving to the Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute to continue her postdoctoral training in 2006. She became a Group Leader at Janelia Research Campus in 2011. Missing the diverse research and culture at Berkeley, She returned to join the Physics and Molecular & Cell Biology Departments in 2016, where she is currently the Luis Alvarez Memorial Chair in Experimental Physics and an associate professor of neurobiology.
Research Interests
We develop and apply novel imaging methods to understand the brain. Besides inventing methods that make an immediate impact on neuroscience, we also aim to extend the applications of our technologies to other living (and nonliving) systems by collaborating with researchers at LBNL.
Recent Publications
Related News
Biosciences Area FY19 LDRD Projects
The projects of 13 Biosciences Area scientists and engineers received funding through the FY19 Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program. The funded projects span a diverse array of topics and approaches including the harnessing of microbiome data to uncover patterns of mutualism, evaluating radiobiological effects of laser-accelerated ion beams, improving bioenergy yield under drought stress, and the application of machine learning in tomogram segmentation. Lab-wide, 89 projects were selected from a field of 158 proposals. Biosciences Area efforts account for 15.07 percent of the $22.2 million allocated.
Biosciences Area FY18 LDRD Projects
The projects of 13 Biosciences Area scientists and engineers received funding through the FY18 Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program. These projects span a diverse array of topics and approaches including the study of microbiomes in relation to patterns of mutualism, crop productivity, and gut health; synthetic biology for engineering biosurfactant production and energy conversion pathways; and the application of technologies such as machine learning, high-resolution optical microscopy, and single-cell transcriptomics. Together, these efforts account for 18.75 percent of the $20 million allocated. Lab-wide, 74 projects were selected from a field of 215.
Nobel Prize Winner, World-Class Biophysicist to Join Biosciences
Chemistry Nobelist Eric Betzig and world-class biophysicist Na Ji will join Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley in the summer of 2017. They will serve as faculty scientists in the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division of the Biosciences Area.
