Janet Sorrells

Janet Sorrells is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis (McKelvey School of Engineering). Her research focuses on developing new technologies in label-free nonlinear optical microscopy, including multiphoton fluorescence, coherent Raman scattering, and harmonic generation.

• PhD in Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2024
• MS in Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020
• BS in Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester, 2018

Her work aims to advance optical microscopy techniques to study biological and medical phenomena. Notable contributions include developing fast photon-counting methods for multiphoton fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), enabling the study of autofluorescent cofactors like NAD(P)H and FAD. These advancements improve the applicability of microscopy in medical and biological research.

• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
• McGinnis Medical Innovation Fellowship
• JenLab Young Investigator Award
• 2023 Illinois Innovation Award
• 2024 Gold Educational Award from Edmund Optics

In 2025, Sorrells received a Collaboration Initiation Grant from the McKelvey School of Engineering and the Gold Educational Award from Edmund Optics for ultrafast optics research. Her lab is located in Green 0159, focusing on interdisciplinary applications of optical technologies in medicine and biology.