Michelle A Digman

Michelle Digman is an American chemist who is an associate professor at the University of California, Irvine. She is Director of W.M. Keck Nanoimaging Lab and co-leads the Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics. Her research develops imaging technologies to better understand biological problems.

Early life and education Digman studied chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her doctorate involved structure-function investigations of Protein kinase C. She remained there for postdoctoral research, moving from the department of chemistry and physics. She became director of the Optical Biology Core Facility.

Research and career In 2013, Digman joined the faculty at the University of California, Irvine. She develops and uses new biophysical, bioengineering and optical tools to better understand biological processes and improve healthcare. In particular, Digman has focused on the development of non-invasive imaging techniques to study changes of fluorescent biomarkers that provide information on cellular health. She led a team that developed open software to better segment and track mitochondria in cellular imaging.

Digman studies the spatial and temporal activation of Rho proteins during cell migration, a critical stage of embryonic development. This involves the use of raster image correlation spectroscopy and Number and Molecular Brightness (N&B) analysis using a laser scanning microscope.

Awards and honors 2017 Hellman Fellows Award 2019 National Science Foundation CAREER Award 2021 Allen Distinguished Investigator Award

Selected publications