Jungeun Won PhD
Jungeun Won
PhD
Assistant Professor of Research
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Specialty/Research Focus
Artificial Intelligence; Bacterial Pathogenesis; Biomedical Imaging; Image Processing and Analysis; Imaging In Vivo; Retina – retinal disease and therapy; Translational imaging
Professional Summary:
The goal of my research is to develop next-generation translational optical imaging technologies that are combined with computational and analytical methods to advance disease diagnosis, monitoring, and predicting treatment response. My research lab is broadly focused on developing optical coherence tomography (OCT) and microscopy methods to study retinal and otologic diseases, non-destructive tissue/material characterization methods, and artificial intelligence on large image datasets.
Education and Training:
- Postdoctoral associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2024)
- PhD, Bioengineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2021)
- MS, Bioengineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2017)
- BS, Biomedical Engineering and Minor in Optics, University of Rochester (2015)
Employment:
- Assistant Professor of Research, Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo (2024-present)
- Assistant Professor of Research, Ophthalmology (secondary), University at Buffalo (2024-present)
Awards and Honors:
- National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research Emerging Vision Scientist Program (2024)
- Bob Bilger Graduate Award for Hearing Research (2020)
- McGinnis Medical Innovation Graduate Fellowship (2020)
- Baxter Young Investigator Award (2019)
- Biannual Symposium Travel Scholarship Award (2019)
- Nadine Barrie Smith Memorial Fellowship (2017)
- Walt and Bobbi Makous Prize for Vision Research (2015)
- Xerox Engineering Research Fellowship (2014)
Research Expertise:
- 1. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA): instrumentation, prototype development, and computational analytics
- 2. Ultrahigh resolution imaging of retina to study aging, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and inherited retinal diseases
- 3. Adult/pediatric ear OCT imaging to look inside ear cavity; Otitis media
- 4. Machine learning and artificial intelligence for large image datasets
- 5. Non-destructive imaging and characterization of bacterial biofilm
Grants and Sponsored Research:
- January 2026–December 2026
Developing a compact portable retinal imaging cart for clinical deployment
UB Research and Creative Activities for Undergraduates Program
Role: Principal Investigator
$9,500 - January 2025–December 2025
Long-range, volumetric middle ear imaging towards pediatric otitis media
UB CTSI Translational Pilot Studies Program
Role: Principal Investigator
$49,700 - January 2025–December 2025
Developing physics-informed, artificial intelligence-assisted optical imaging platform to study human retina
UB Research and Creative Activities for Undergraduates Program
Role: Principal Investigator
$10,460 - May 2024–December 2024
Design and 3D prototyping handheld optical imaging probe
UB Research and Creative Activities for Undergraduates Program
Role: Principal Investigator
$9,750
Journal Articles:
- Won J.*, Yaghy A.*, Ploner S, Kaiser S., Hwang Y., Maier A., Fujimoto J.G., and Waheed N.K. (2025) High-resolution, motion corrected, volume fused optical coherence tomography reveals longitudinal changes in sub retinal drusenoid deposits in intermediate dry age-related macular degeneration. Translational Vision Science & Technology (Jun), 14(6): 15.
- Jamil U.M.*, Won J.*, Marmalidou A., Ploner S., Takahashi H., Kaiser S., Hwang Y., Abu-Qamar O., Yaghy A., Witkin A.J., Zhao P.Y., Desai S., Duker J.S., Maier A., Fujimoto J.G., and Waheed N. (2025) High-resolution OCT reveals age-associated variation in the region posterior to ELM. Translational Vision Science & Technology (Apr), 1(14): 16.
- Takahashi H., Hwang Y., Won J., Jamil M.U., Yaghy A., Liang M., Baumal C.R., Witkin A.J., Ohno-Matsui K., Duker J.S., Fujimoto J.G., and Waheed N.K. (2025) Blood flow speed of retinal microaneurysms in eyes with diabetic retinopathy quantified by high-speed OCTA using variable interscan time analysis. Translational Vision Science & Technology (Feb), 2(14): 27.
- Hwang Y., Takahashi H., Won J., Yaghy A., Marmalidou A., Kaiser S., Jamil M.U., Baumal C.R., Waheed N., and Fujimoto J.G. (2025) Quantification of capillary blood flow speeds in diabetic retinopathy using variable interscan time analysis (VISTA) OCTA. Retina (Jan), 1(45): 35-43.
- Won J., Takahashi H., Ploner S., Karbole W., Abu-Qamar O., Yaghy A., Marmalidou A., Kaiser S., Hwang Y., Lin J., Witkin A., Desai S., Baumal C.R., Maier A., Curcio C., Waheed N., and Fujimoto J.G. (2024) Topographic measurement of the sub-retinal pigment epithelium space in normal aging and age-related macular degeneration using high-resolution OCT. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (Aug), 10(65): 18.
- Zhang C, Zaki FR, Won J, Boppart SA. (2024) A multimodal nonlinear optical microscopy study of the responses of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to blue light and antibiotic treatment. Journal of biophotonics (Mar), 17(3): e202300384. doi:10.1002/jbio.202300384
- Hwang Y, Won J, Yaghy A, Takahashi H, Girgis JM, Lam K, Chen S, Moult EM, Ploner SB, Maier A, Waheed NK, Fujimoto JG. (2023) Retinal blood flow speed quantification at the capillary level using temporal autocorrelation fitting OCTA [Invited]. Biomedical optics express (Jun), 14(6): 2658-2677. doi:10.1364/BOE.488103
- Huang C, Clark GG, Zaki FR, Won J, Ning R, Boppart SA, Elbanna AE, Nguyen TH. (2023) Effects of phosphate and silicate on stiffness and viscoelasticity of mature biofilms developed with simulated drinking water. Biofouling (Jan), 39(1): 36-46. doi:10.1080/08927014.2023.2177538
- Deng YH, Ricciardulli T, Won J, Wade MA, Rogers SA, Boppart SA, Flaherty DW, Kong H. (2022) Self-locomotive, antimicrobial microrobot (SLAM) swarm for enhanced biofilm elimination. Biomaterials (Aug), 287: 121610. doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2022.121610
- Monroy GL, Won J, Shi J, Hill MC, Porter RG, Novak MA, Hong W, Khampang P, Kerschner JE, Spillman DR, Boppart SA. (2022) Automated classification of otitis media with OCT: augmenting pediatric image datasets with gold-standard animal model data. Biomedical optics express (Jun), 13(6): 3601-3614. doi:10.1364/BOE.453536
- Choi H, Zaki FR, Monroy GL, Won J, Boppart SA. (2022) Imaging and characterization of transitions in biofilm morphology via anomalous diffusion following environmental perturbation. Biomedical optics express (Mar), 13(3): 1654-1670. doi:10.1364/BOE.449131
- Monroy GL, Fitzgerald ST, Locke A, Won J, Spillman DR, Ho A, Zaki FR, Choi H, Chaney EJ, Werkhaven JA, Mason KM, Mahadevan-Jansen A, Boppart SA. (2022) Multimodal Handheld Probe for Characterizing Otitis Media - Integrating Raman Spectroscopy and Optical Coherence Tomography. Frontiers in photonics (Jan), 3. doi:10.3389/fphot.2022.929574
- Locke AK, Zaki FR, Fitzgerald ST, Sudhir K, Monroy GL, Choi H, Won J, Mahadevan-Jansen A, Boppart SA. (2022) Differentiation of otitis media-causing bacteria and biofilms via Raman spectroscopy and optical coherence tomography. Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology (Jan), 12: 869761. doi:10.3389/fcimb.2022.869761
- Sun PP, Won J, Choo-Kang G, Li S, Chen W, Monroy GL, Chaney EJ, Boppart SA, Eden JG, Nguyen TH. (2021) Inactivation and sensitization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by microplasma jet array for treating otitis media. NPJ biofilms and microbiomes (Jun), 7(1): 48. doi:10.1038/s41522-021-00219-2
- Won J, Monroy GL, Dsouza RI, Spillman DR, McJunkin J, Porter RG, Shi J, Aksamitiene E, Sherwood M, Stiger L, Boppart SA. (2021) Handheld Briefcase Optical Coherence Tomography with Real-Time Machine Learning Classifier for Middle Ear Infections. Biosensors (May), 11(5). doi:10.3390/bios11050143
- Won J, Porter RG, Novak MA, Youakim J, Sum A, Barkalifa R, Aksamitiene E, Zhang A, Nolan R, Shelton R, Boppart SA. (2021) In vivo dynamic characterization of the human tympanic membrane using pneumatic optical coherence tomography. Journal of biophotonics (Apr), 14(4): e202000215. doi:10.1002/jbio.202000215
- Won J, Hong W, Khampang P, Spillman DR, Marshall S, Yan K, Porter RG, Novak MA, Kerschner JE, Boppart SA. (2021) Longitudinal optical coherence tomography to visualize the in vivo response of middle ear biofilms to antibiotic therapy. Scientific reports (Mar), 11(1): 5176. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-84543-9
- Won J, Huang PC, Spillman DR, Chaney EJ, Adam R, Klukowska M, Barkalifa R, Boppart SA. (2020) Handheld optical coherence tomography for clinical assessment of dental plaque and gingiva. Journal of biomedical optics (Nov), 25(11). doi:10.1117/1.JBO.25.11.116011
- Huang C, Sun PP, Won J, Wang Y, Boppart SA, Nguyen TH. (2020) Effect of Nonphosphorus Corrosion Inhibitors on Biofilm Pore Structure and Mechanical Properties. Environmental science & technology (Nov), 54(22): 14716-14724. doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c04645
- Won J, Huang PC, Boppart SA. (2020) Phase-based Eulerian motion magnification reveals eardrum mobility from pneumatic otoscopy without sealing the ear canal. JPhys photonics (Jul), 2(3). doi:10.1088/2515-7647/ab8a59
- Won J, Monroy GL, Huang PC, Hill MC, Novak MA, Porter RG, Spillman DR, Chaney EJ, Barkalifa R, Boppart SA. (2020) Assessing the Effect of Middle Ear Effusions on Wideband Acoustic Immittance Using Optical Coherence Tomography. Ear and hearing (Jan), 41(4): 811-824. doi:10.1097/AUD.0000000000000796
- Monroy GL, Won J, Dsouza R, Pande P, Hill MC, Porter RG, Novak MA, Spillman DR, Boppart SA. (2019) Automated classification platform for the identification of otitis media using optical coherence tomography. NPJ digital medicine (Jan), 2: 22. doi:10.1038/s41746-019-0094-0
- Dsouza R, Won J, Monroy GL, Spillman DR, Boppart SA. (2018) Economical and compact briefcase spectral-domain optical coherence tomography system for primary care and point-of-care applications. Journal of biomedical optics (Sep), 23(9): 1-11. doi:10.1117/1.JBO.23.9.096003
- Dsouza R, Won J, Monroy GL, Hill MC, Porter RG, Novak MA, Boppart SA. (2018) In vivo detection of nanometer-scale structural changes of the human tympanic membrane in otitis media. Scientific reports (Jun), 8(1): 8777. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26514-1
- Won J, Monroy GL, Huang PC, Dsouza R, Hill MC, Novak MA, Porter RG, Chaney E, Barkalifa R, Boppart SA. (2018) Pneumatic low-coherence interferometry otoscope to quantify tympanic membrane mobility and middle ear pressure. Biomedical optics express (Feb), 9(2): 397-409. doi:10.1364/BOE.9.000397
- Monroy GL, Won J, Spillman DR, Dsouza R, Boppart SA. (2017) Clinical translation of handheld optical coherence tomography: practical considerations and recent advancements. Journal of biomedical optics (Dec), 22(12): 1-30. doi:10.1117/1.JBO.22.12.121715
- Tankam P, Won J, Canavesi C, Cox I, Rolland JP. (2016) Optical Assessment of Soft Contact Lens Edge-Thickness. Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry (Aug), 93(8): 987-96. doi:10.1097/OPX.0000000000000892
- Duma VF, Tankam P, Huang J, Won J, Rolland JP. (2015) Optimization of galvanometer scanning for optical coherence tomography. Applied optics (Jun), 54(17): 5495-507.
- Tankam P, He Z, Chu YJ, Won J, Canavesi C, Lepine T, Hindman HB, Topham DJ, Gain P, Thuret G, Rolland JP. (2015) Assessing microstructures of the cornea with Gabor-domain optical coherence microscopy: pathway for corneal physiology and diseases. Optics letters (Mar), 40(6): 1113-6. doi:10.1364/OL.40.001113
- Tankam P, Santhanam AP, Lee KS, Won J, Canavesi C, Rolland JP. (2014) Parallelized multi-graphics processing unit framework for high-speed Gabor-domain optical coherence microscopy. Journal of biomedical optics (Jul), 19(7): 71410. doi:10.1117/1.JBO.19.7.071410
Professional Memberships:
- Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO); Member
- Optica; Member
- International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE); Member
Service Activities:
- NIH Imaging and Bioengineering Technology for Visual Systems (IBV) study section; Early Career Reviewer (ECR) (2026)