Once viewed solely as a tool for low throughput and kinetic analysis of biomolecular interactions, optical biosensors are gaining widespread uses in drug discovery and basic research due to recent advances in instrumentation and experimental design. This presentation reviews important advances in optical biosensor instrumentation, and presents theoretical analysis for the use of resonant waveguide grating (RWG) biosensors to characterize stimulation-mediated cell responses including signaling. Case studies for cell systems biology and pharmacology using the RWG biosensor will be presented. The potential applications of optical biosensors in drug discovery with an emphasis on whole cell sensing in both high throughput and high content fashions will be discussed. 

Ye Fang recieved his bachelor’s degree in 1989 from Hubei University, his master’s degree in physical chemistry in 1992 from Wuhan University, his doctoral degree in biophysical chemistry in 1995 from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China), and carried out postdoctoral research at University of Vermont (1995-1996) and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (1996-2000).  After his academic work, he joined Corning Inc in October 2000 as a senior research scientist, and was promoted to be a Research Associate in 2004. Ye is currently a Research Manager of Cellular Biophysics group in Corning Inc., and is a team leader of cell assay technologies project. Ye holds 2 granted patents, has filed 25 patent applications, and published 2 books, 70 peer reviewed papers and 7 book chapters.