Leong became the director of the Center for Advanced Microscopy at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in 2002, and led the facility to be recognized as one of the few selected Nikon Imaging Centers in the world. At the same time, his lab began devising methods to engineer three-dimensional, lumenized vascular network capable of dynamic signaling read-out. This approach ultimately allowed Leong and his team to dissect the regulatory signals in the opposing endothelial cells during cancer diapedesis. In 2009, he was further appointed to the position of Director for University Imaging Resources at Northwestern, overseeing the institutional strategy in building integrated imaging infrastructure across all seven imaging centers within the university.

Leong joined Janelia in 2014 to serve as the Director for the Advanced Imaging Center. Here, he leads the effort in building the unique collaborative imaging center that serves as the gateway through which the wider scientific world can access Janelia’s cutting-edge microscopy capabilities.

Jesse joined the Advanced Imaging Center in 2014, and has nearly 20 years’ experience in microscope design, development, and application across a wide range of biological models.  He previously was Senior Engineer at Vutara, Inc., where he helped to successfully commercialize 3D super-resolution microscopy systems.  Jesse performed postdoctoral work at Sandia National Laboratories, where he implemented several high-resolution optical imaging systems, including TIRF, STORM, hyperspectral, and STED microscopies, with biological applications ranging widely from cell surface receptor tracking and innate immune response, to algal biofuels research.  Jesse received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

​Anja joined the AIC in January 2024. Prior to joining the AIC she was a Research Specialist at the Janelia Light Microscopy Core gaining further experience especially in confocal and light sheet microscopy. She has a Cell Biology and Developmental Biology background as a graduate from Georg-August-University in Goettingen/Germany where she also obtained her PhD. There she worked on the cytoskeleton and establishment of cell polarity using Drosophila embryos as model organism. For her postdoc, she moved to UNC Chapel Hill to work on cell-cell adhesion during Drosophila embryogenesis.

Leanna joined the AIC in November 2021 as a Research Technician.  She provides support in cell culture and sample preparation for the AIC.  Prior to joining the AIC, she worked at the University of Pittsburgh’s Neurobiology Department.

Chad joined the AIC as a recent PhD graduate from the department of physics and astronomy the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His PhD research in Rich Superfine's lab focused on combining atomic force microscopy and single-objective light-sheet microscopy to study the mechanical properties of cell nuclei. At the AIC, Chad works primarily on the various light-sheet microscopy systems, assisting visitors from consultation to publication. Prior to graduate school, Chad received his BS in both physics and mathematics at the University of Lynchburg, where he developed models of the Tour de France and soccer ball aerodynamics.

Satya has more than 30 years of cell biology experience. Combining her extensive cell biological sample prep know-how and her acumen in microscopy, Satya's work has been featured on covers of various textbooks and journals. Satya has pioneered the tissue engineering technique to create 3D, lumenized blood vessel network with FRET biosensors for the study of cancer invasion. 

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After serving at the Center for Advanced Microscopy at Northwestern University, she joined Janelia in 2015 as technical coordinator to provide crucial support to AIC visitors in sample receiving, cell culture, specimen preparation, and also logistical consultation on experimental set-up.   

Prior to joining the AIC, Rachel was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she studied breast cancer metastasis. During her PhD in physics at the University of Maryland College Park, she focused on the nonlinear dynamics of collective cell migration. Across her multidisciplinary research career, Rachel has developed image analysis workflows for diverse groups of collaborators studying cell migration, cytoskeletal dynamics, calcium signaling, and more. In 2021, Rachel joined the AIC, where she works with visitors to develop approaches for exploring and quantifying their microscopy data.

Mai joined the AIC in April 2023 as an Advanced Microscopy Fellow. Prior to joining the AIC, Mai was a postdoctoral research fellow at Zewail City (ZC) for Science and Technology in Cairo, Egypt. Also, Mai was co-leading the microscopy training, education, and awareness (TEA) working group in the African BioImaging Consortium (ABIC) where they work on providing educational materials and curriculum that can be shared by African Institutes. Her PhD research was a collaboration between the German University in Cairo and ZC that involved studying DNA repair mechanisms and cancer metabolism using mammalian cell lines and Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strain as a model organism. At the AIC, Mai will be involved in light-sheet microscopy and image analysis.

Laura joined Janelia Research Campus in May 2011, after 15 years in the drug development services industry. She graduated with a B.S. in Biology from North Central College and a M.S. in Veterinary Medical Sciences/Immunotoxicolgy from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.