Faculty

Dr. Zhi Lu is currently an Assistant Professor at Tsinghua University. He received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Department of Automation from Tsinghua University, advised by Prof. Qionghai Dai. His research interests include computational imaging, intelligent microscopy, embodied AI and AI4S, with focuses on: 1) high-dimensional light field imaging, enabling comprehensive recordings of temporal, spatial, and angular information for high-speed, high-resolution 3D microscopy including scanning light field imaging (Cell 2021; Nat Protoc 2022) and confocal scanning light field imaging (Nat Biotechnol 2024); 2) high-fidelity data processing, developing AI technologies to enhance the efficiency, resolution, and robustness of fluorescence images and videos, with contributions including super-resolution (Nat Methods 2023), 3D reconstruction (Nat Methods 2025), denoising (Nat Commun 2025; Sci Adv 2026), aberration correction (Nat Biotechnol 2026) and scattering removal (Nat Commun, 2021) through phase-space correlation modeling; and 3) embodied AI analysis, aiming to understand the dynamics of large cell populations to reveal mechanisms of biology and medicine, with collaborative breakthroughs in drug-induced inflammation mechanisms (J Hepatol 2023; Cell Mol Immunol 2025), microenvironment repair regulation (Adv Sci 2024), and efferocytosis network pathways (Sci Transl Med 2025). He holds 30+ invention patents. He is honorably on Forbes China 30 Under 30 List (2023) and Forbes Global Alliance Global Young Leader (2026), and supported by the National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (2023) and the Young Top-notch Talent of National High-Level Talent Special Support Program (2024). Additionally, he received SAIL awards at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (2022, 2024), the Dimitris N. Chorafas Prize (2024), the Award in Ten Advances for Optics in China (2022) and the Excellent Doctoral Thesis of Chinese Institute of Electronics, Chinese Association of Automation, and Beijing City (2023).

2018 - 2023 Ph.D., Department of Automation, Tsinghua University

2014 - 2018 B.S., Department of Automation, Tsinghua University

2025 - Present Assistant Professor & PI, Department of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Tsinghua University

2025 - Present Adjunct Faculty & PI, Department of Automation, Tsinghua University

2023 - 2025 PostDoc, Department of Automation, Tsinghua University

Biophotonics

Computational Imaging

Intelligent Microscopy

Computational Neuroscience

Foundation Model for Multiscale Image Analysis

Foundation Model for Multitask Image Processing

Foundation Model for Multimodal Data Understanding

Embodied Intelligence

Brain-Inspired World Models

AI for Science (AI4S)

(I am looking for ambitious Postdocs, PhD, Master students, and especially welcome interns. We encourage in-depth involvement from our interns, and priority will be given to those who can get involved in projects over six months. Remote work is a highly encouraged option. Feel free to contact me via email: luzhi@tsinghua.edu.cn.)

Vice Secretary, Biomedical Imaging Committee, Biophysics Society of China

Member, Signal Processing Committee, Chinese Institute of Electronics

Member, "AI+" Working Group of the National Health Commission

2026 Forbes Global Alliance Global Young Leader

2026 Outstanding Young Scientist Award, IDIP Conference

2025 Tsinghua Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellowship (10 out of 3,500)

2024 Young Top-notch Talent of the National High-Level Talent Special Support Program

2024 Dimitris N. Chorafas Prize winner (~30 people/year globally)

2024 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) Superior AI Leader (WAIC SAIL Award, the highest award in WAIC, 5 projects/year)

2024 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) Youth Outstanding Paper (WAIC YOP)

2023 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS) Best Paper Award in Computational Optics

2023 Forbes China 30 Under 30 (Art, Science & Finance)

2023 National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents

2023 Excellent Doctoral Thesis Award, Beijing City

2023 Excellent Doctoral Thesis Award, Chinese Association of Automation

2023 Excellent Doctoral Thesis Award, Chinese Institute of Electronics

2023 Valedictorian at Tsinghua University Graduate Ceremony (1 out of 7,500)

2022 Tsinghua's Student of the Year 2022 (10 out of 45,000)

2022 Tsinghua Academic Rising Star Award (10 out of 30,000)

2021 China’s Top 10 Optical Breakthroughs, Nomination Award

2021 China's Technological Advances in Science & Technology Review

2021 Cell Press Most Picked Chinese Paper Award

(^# represents co-first authors; * represents corresponding authors)

2026

[1] Yunmin Zeng; Qi Zhang; Yihong Xiao; Shidong Wu; Seonghoon Kim; Yunhao Zhang; Mingrui Wang; Yuanlong Zhang; Xinyang Li; Zhi Lu*; Jiamin Wu*; Qionghai Dai*; High-fidelity intravital imaging of biological dynamics with latent-space-enhanced digital adaptive optics. Nature Biotechnology, 2026. (IF_5-year 59.5) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-026-03107-2

[2] Yuanjie Gu^#; Yiqun Wang^#; Ang Xuan; Jianping Wang; Linyi Wang; Lei Zhang; Xiaoran Li; Yao Wu; Jun Zhang; Zhi Lu*; Biqin Dong*; Enhancing Biomedical Optical Volumetric Imaging via Self-Supervised Orthogonal Learning. Science Advances, 2026, 12, eady9194. (IF_5-year 14.1) https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ady9194

[3] Yixin Li; Qi Zhang; Yuanlong Zhang; Jiaqi Fan; Zhi Lu; Xinhong Xu; Xinyang Li*; Ziwei Li*; Jiamin Wu*; Qionghai Dai*; Unsupervised transfer learning enables multi-animal tracking without training annotation. Nature Methods, 2026. (IF_5-year 51.7) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-026-03051-8

[4] Yifan Chen; Yunmin Zeng; Tao Yu; Yuduo Guo; Yuwang Wang; Zhi Lu; Dr Jiamin Wu*; Qionghai Dai*; Super-Snell scanning light-field display for ultra-wide-angle high-resolution glasses-free 3D displays. Nature Photonics, accepted, 2026. (IF_5-year 38.2)

2025

[5] Zhi Lu^#; Manchang Jin^#; Shuai Chen; Xiaoge Wang; Feihao Sun; Qi Zhang; Zhifeng Zhao; Jiamin Wu*; Jingyu Yang*; Qionghai Dai*; Physics-driven self-supervised learning for fast high-resolution robust 3D reconstruction of light-field microscopy. Nature Methods, 2025, 22, 1545–1555. (IF_5-year 51.7) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-025-02698-z

[6] Zhi Lu^#; Wentao Chen^#; Feihao Sun; Jiaqi Fan; Xinyang Li; Zhenqi Fu; Manchang Jin; Jiamin Wu*; Qionghai Dai*; Leveraging spatial-angular redundancy for self-supervised denoising of 3D fluorescence imaging without temporal dependency. Nature Communications, 2025, 16, 11608. (IF_5-year 17.2) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66654-3

[7] Shuai Chen^#; Bingyuan Huang^#; Shanshan Li^#; Zhijing Wang^#; Yizhong Chang; Huaming Huang; Chun Liu; Shuo Zhang; Manchang Jin; Haoyu Jia; Bo Yang; Ziwen Tao; Li Chen; Kai Guo; Zhi Lu*; Jing Li*; Fei Wang*; Changqing Yang*; Myeloid Mas-driven macrophage efferocytosis promotes resolution in ischemia-stressed mouse and human livers. Science Translational Medicine, 2025, 17, eadr2725. (IF_5-year 16.0) https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adr2725

[8] Yuanyuan Luo^#; Yarong Hao^#; Chunyan Sun^#; Zhi Lu^#; Hao Wang^#; Yuhan Lin; Yaping Guan; Lingyan Cai; Chenhong Ding; Binbin Li; Fei Chen; Yiting Lu; Yong Lin*; Xin Zeng*; Gut-derived indole propionic acid alleviates liver fibrosis by targeting pro-fibrogenic macrophage via gut-liver axis. Cellular & Molecular Immunology, 2025, 11, 1414-1426. (IF_5-year 22.6) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-025-01339-x

2024

[9] Zhi Lu^#; Siqing Zuo^#; Minghui Shi^#; Jiaqi Fan; Jingyu Xie; Guihua Xiao; Li Yu*; Jiamin Wu*; Qionghai Dai*; Long-term intravital subcellular imaging with confocal scanning light-field microscopy. Nature Biotechnology, 2024, 43, 569–580. (IF_5-year 59.5) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-024-02249-5

[10] Shuai Chen^#; Zhi Lu^#; Yudong Zhao^#; Lu Xia^#; Chun Liu; Siqing Zuo; Manchang Jin; Haoyu Jia; Shanshan Li; Shuo Zhang; Bo Yang; Zhijing Wang; Jing Li*; Fei Wang*; Changqing Yang*; Myeloid-Mas signaling modulates pathogenic crosstalk among MYC⁺CD63⁺ endothelial cells, MMP12⁺ macrophages and monocytes in Acetaminophen-induced liver injury. Advanced Science, 2024, 11, 202306066. (IF_5-year 15.6) https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202306066

2023

[11] Zhi Lu^#; Yu Liu^#; Manchang Jin; Xin Luo; Huanjing Yue; Zian Wang; Siqing Zuo; Yunmin Zeng; Jiaqi Fan; Yanwei Pang; Jiamin Wu*; Jingyu Yang*; Qionghai Dai*; Virtual-scanning light-field microscopy for robust snapshot high-resolution volumetric imaging. Nature Methods, 2023, 20, 735-746. (IF_5-year 51.7) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-023-01839-6

[12] Shuai Chen^#; Zhi Lu^#; Haoyu Jia^#; Bo Yang^#; Chun Liu; Yuxin Yang; Shuo Zhang; Zhijing Wang; Liu Yang; Shanshan Li; Jing Li*; Changqing Yang*; Hepatocyte-specific Mas activation enhances lipophagy and fatty acid oxidation to protect against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity. Journal of Hepatology, 2023, 78, 543-557. (IF_5-year 28.1) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2022.10.028

[13] Zhifeng Zhao^#; Yiliang Zhou^#; Bo Liu^#; Jing He^#; Jiayin Zhao; Yeyi Cai; Jingtao Fan; Xinyang Li; Zilin Wang; Zhi Lu; Jiamin Wu*; Hai Qi*; Qionghai Dai*; Two-photon synthetic aperture microscopy for minimally invasive fast 3D imaging of native subcellular behaviors in deep tissue. Cell, 2023, 186, 2475-2491. (IF_5-year 48.8) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.04.016

2022

[14] Zhi Lu; Yeyi Cai; Yixin Nie; Yuxin Yang; Jiamin Wu*; Qionghai Dai*; A practical guide to scanning light-field microscopy with digital adaptive optics. Nature Protocols, 2022, 17, 1953–1979. (IF_5-year 19.4) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-022-00703-9

[15] Jiamin Wu^#; Yuduo Guo^#; Chao Deng^#; Anke Zhang; Hui Qiao; Zhi Lu; Jiachen Xie; Lu Fang*; Qionghai Dai*; An integrated imaging sensor for aberration-corrected 3D photography, Nature, 2022, 612, 62-71. (IF_5-year 55.0) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05306-8

[16] Yi Zhang^#; Yuling Wang^#; Mingrui Wang; Yuduo Guo; Xinyang Li; Yifan Chen; Zhi Lu; Jiamin Wu*; Xiangyang Ji*; Qionghai Dai*; Multi-focus light-field microscopy for high-speed large-volume imaging. PhotoniX, 2022, 3, 1-20. (IF_5-year 19.3) https://doi.org/10.1186/s43074-022-00076-y

2021

[17] Jiamin Wu^#; Zhi Lu^#; Dong Jiang^#; Yuduo Guo; Hui Qiao; Yi Zhang; Tianyi Zhu; Yeyi Cai; Xu Zhang; Karl Zhanghao; Hao Xie; Tao Yan; Guoxun Zhang; Xiaoxu Li; Zheng Jiang; Xing Lin; Lu Fang; Bing Zhou; Peng Xi; Jingtao Fan*; Li Yu*; Qionghai Dai*; Iterative tomography with digital adaptive optics permits hour-long intravital observation of 3D subcellular dynamics at millisecond scale. Cell, 2021, 184, 3318-3332. (IF_5-year 48.8) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.029

[18] Yi Zhang^#; Zhi Lu^#; Jiamin Wu^#,*; Xing Lin; Dong Jiang; Yeyi Cai; Jiachen Xie; Yuling Wang; Tianyi Zhu; Xiangyang Ji*; Qionghai Dai*; Computational optical sectioning with an incoherent multiscale scattering model for light-field microscopy. Nature Communications, 2021, 12, 6391. (IF_5-year 17.2) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26730-w

[19] Yuanlong Zhang^#; Bo Xiong^#; Yi Zhang; Zhi Lu; Jiamin Wu*; Qionghai Dai*; DiLFM: an artifact-eliminated and noise-robust light-field microscopy through dictionary learning. Light: Science & Applications, 2021, 10, 152. (IF_5-year 23.1) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-021-00587-6

For more publications, please visit my Google Scholar profile.