As an undergraduate NSF fellow, he contributed to characterizing one of the intricate photophysical parameters of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) under the guidance of Robert S. Knox (Department of Physics, University of Rochester, NY). His doctoral work with Robert M. Clegg (Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) focused on developing fluorescence lifetime and quantitative FRET imaging. He developed patent pending technology for molecular imaging and selective treatment of cancer micrometastases during his postdoctoral fellowship in Tayyaba Hasan’s laboratory (Wellman Center for Photomedicine).