Luke D. Lavis

Luke D. Lavis is an American chemist working at the Janelia Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is best known for his work on small-molecule dyes that enable biological research.

Early life and education Lavis was born in 1977, grew up in the state of Oregon, and studied chemistry at Oregon State University. After his undergraduate schooling, he joined the company Molecular Probes, where he made small-molecule dyes for use in biology. After working there for four years, he returned to school, obtaining his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the lab of Ronald T. Raines. After graduating, he moved in 2008 to the Janelia Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to start his own lab.

Research and career Lavis's lab uses modern chemical syntheses to develop small molecule dyes for biological research. In particular these new dyes offer increased brightness, new spectral regions, and biocompatible features such as cell permeability. In addition to improved performance for conventional uses, these dyes have enabled microscopy advances such PALM and other techniques for super-resolution microscopy. In 2015, Lavis was named as one of the Talented 12 by Chemical & Engineering News.

Selected publications