Associate Professor, Ophthalmology, Bioengineering (Adjunct) and Neurobiology & Biophysics (Adjunct)
George and Martina Kren Endowed Professor of Vision Science
Ram was born and raised in New Delhi, India. He received his Bachelor’s in Engg. Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He earned his Ph.D. at the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester developing non-invasive optical solutions for the study and treatment of corneal pathologies. He did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley studying the retinal basis of spatial and color vision using advanced high-resolution imaging before joining the faculty at University of Washington.
Acting Assistant Professor
Vimal earned his B.Tech degree in Biomedical Engineering and M. Tech in Medical Electronics from Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He completed his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad Telangana, India. His research interests are in optical coherence tomography, digital holographic microscopy, coherence microscopy & quantitative phase imaging.
Research Scientist, Study Coordinator
Ben has bounced around. Long before joining the Sabesan lab in 2021, Ben could be found in the cornfields of Iowa, counting monarch butterfly larvae, or at Haverford College studying retinal ganglion cells in frogs. In the Perkel lab at UW, Ben was last spotted recording action potentials in the songbird brain. Then, his life took an unexpected twist. For the next 15 years, you may have seen Ben in the air, performing on the trapeze with his wife in circuses and cabarets around the globe. Now, Ben is thrilled to be back in the lab, stretching his mind and learning new things. Ben wears many hats in the Sabesan lab -- from doing research to managing lab business and coordinating the clinical research studies. Ben loves food and adventure and is the proud parent of two wild children.
Research Scientist
Palash joined the Sabesan Lab as a research scientist in 2021 to work on optical engineering for retinal imaging. He received Bachelors and Masters degrees in engineering from IIT Bombay, and a PhD in Physics from the University of Rochester. After a postdoctoral stint at ETH Zürich, he spent five years as an Assistant Professor at Rice University in Houston. In a past life, he performed scanning nearfield optical microscopy on single quantum emitters; accomplished energy transduction between tunneling electrons and surface plasmons, leading to the first electrically excited optical antenna device; worked on novel 2D optoelectronic devices; grew sweet peas, zinnias and sunflowers; and played the sitar. He remains in awe of the complex beauty of the natural world, enjoys playing cricket with his son, and still loves to throw tall clay pots on the wheel.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Teng is a graduate of the bioengineering program at UW, having received his PhD in 2025. After earning a masters degree in physics from Tsinghua University, he came to UW to continue to explore his interest in adaptive optics and optical coherence tomography. Teng is currently developing optoretinography for clinical applications and basic science. In 2026, Teng was awarded the prestigious SPIE-Franz Hillenkamp Postdoctoral Fellowship. Teng is from Hunan, China and likes spicy food like curry and he is a fan of Steph Curry.
Graduate Student, Neuroscience
Connor Weiss is a PhD candidate in the graduate program in neuroscience. His research focuses on probing the mechanisms of the optoretinogram. Connor received his BS in neuroscience and physiology from the University of California San Diego, and did some postbaccalaureate work at the SALK institute developing an ultrasound-based alternative to optogenetics. In his free time, Connor loves to play tabletop RPG’s and board games, as well as cook.
Graduate Student, Bioengineering
Samson is a PhD Student in the UW Department of Bioengineering. He is working jointly in the Mustafi and Sabesan labs to understand the genotype-to-phenotype relationship in inherited retinal diseases. Prior to joining UW, he completed his Doctor of Optometry degree at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana and subsequently served there as a Clinical, Teaching and Research Assistant. Outside the lab, Samson serves as the Founder & Executive Director of iCare Network International, an organization that provides medical care and social support to underserved communities in Ghana. When not working, he enjoys photography, traveling and playing ping pong.
Graduate Student, Bioengineering
Keyu received his BSc and MSc in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Waterloo and is currently a PhD student in Bioengineering at UW. His research interests include optical coherence tomography, high-speed imaging, and functional retinal imaging.