Paul Urayama

Paul Urayama is Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics at Miami University, where he has been a faculty member since 2003. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University (2001) and dual B.S. degrees in Physics and Biological Sciences from UC Irvine (1994).

Urayama's research focuses on experimental biological physics, particularly fluorescence-based metabolic sensing under high hydrostatic pressure with applications in mitochondrial function and biomedical imaging. His recent publications in Analytical Chemistry, Journal of Biophotonics, and RSC Advances highlight student co-authorship and development of spectral phasor approaches for cellular metabolic monitoring.

His work demonstrates strong trends in high-pressure biophysics, autofluorescence analysis, and optical sensing for mitochondrial studies in turbid media containing collagen or hemoglobin. Key subfields include fluorescence lifetime imaging, metabolic pathway differentiation, and biomedical applications of spectral phasor analysis.

Scientific awards include the College of Arts and Science Distinguished Educator Award. Students interact with him through the National Fellowships Committee and Goldwater Scholarship representation. His lab graduates pursue doctoral programs in physics, biophysics, and medical school, or enter technical employment.

He has secured grants from the National Science Foundation and Research Corporation for biological physics research involving students. The lab actively trains undergraduates and master's students in high-pressure biophysics and fluorescence-based sensing, with members presenting at national conferences like the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting and SPIE Photonics West.