Biological state from complex data
Infer age, sequence relationships, and molecular state from high-dimensional measurements.
Physical chemistry, analytical chemistry, bioengineering
Bouchard Lab at UCLA
From molecular chirality to lung function, immune memory, microstructure, and aging, we study how hidden states in complex systems become encoded in measurable physical and biological behavior.
Home base
UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Scientific Focus
Spin dynamics, transport, microstructure, immune response
Recruiting focus
Molecular kinetics, quantum spin systems, biological state
What We Do
Chemistry for systems that are hard to see directly.
The lab asks how molecules, materials, and living systems encode information in spin dynamics, transport, geometry, mechanics, immune response, and sequence. We are especially interested in problems where the important state is hidden: gas exchange in lung tissue, confinement in porous materials, chirality in spin response, T-cell function, and biological aging.
For students, that means projects can start from fundamental physical chemistry, biological mechanism, or materials behavior, then grow into whatever combination of theory, experiment, and computation the question demands.
Research Areas
Research organized by scientific questions.
Each area starts with a phenomenon: chemical identity, transport, immune response, chirality, spin coherence, or biological state.
01
Chemical identity inside living tissue
How can molecular identity and physiology be distinguished inside living tissue?
02Microstructure and transport
What do diffusion and confinement reveal about hidden geometry in complex materials?
03Immune microenvironments
How do local mechanics, architecture, and signaling cues shape T-cell fate, immune memory, and antitumour response?
04Chiral spin phenomena
How does molecular handedness alter spin polarization, bond polarization, and the electronic structure of matter?
05Quantum spin systems
When can coherence, localized magnetic fields, and controlled spin states become useful physical resources?
06Genomes, aging, and biological state
How can sequence and expression patterns reveal age, state, and biological similarity across cells, tissues, and species?
Open Directions
Projects for students who like crossing boundaries.
These are active directions for students who want to work from first-principles questions toward biological and materials problems.
Molecular kinetics and microstructure
Probe exchange, diffusion, reaction networks, and confinement across materials and living systems.
Quantum spin behavior
Study how coherence, chirality, and localized fields shape quantum behavior in molecular and nanoscale systems.
Publications
Full publication list.
Optical spectroscopy and multi-frequency EPR of a dominant S = 7/2 impurity center in europium scandate
J Lumin. 298:122087. DOI: 10.1016/j.jlumin.2026.122087.
Electrospun aligned nanofibers for tissue engineering
Biomater Sci. 14:4210-4230. DOI: 10.1039/D5BM01732G.
Sub-Riemannian lift advantage in quantum control
Phys Rev A. 114:022441. DOI: 10.1103/cvhq-kvhx.
Symmetry-protected superexchange yields long coherence times in silicon rare-earth spin qubits
Phys Rev B. 113:174440. DOI: 10.1103/8kv8-v2nq.
Emergent entanglement in loop-dressed spin-ensemble dynamics
Phys Rev A. 113:052418. DOI: 10.1103/v13l-7n3b.
Quantitative assessment of brain glucose metabolism using dynamic glucose-enhanced magnetic resonance fingerprinting (DGE-MRF)
Chem Biomed Imaging. 4:1173-1185. DOI: 10.1021/cbmi.5c00213.
Weak solutions to the Bloch equations with distant dipolar field
J Chem Phys. DOI: 10.1063/5.0325917.
Multi-tissue transcriptomic aging atlas reveals predictive aging biomarkers in the killifish
Nat Aging. DOI: 10.1038/s43587-026-01074-6.
Chirality-encoded molecular wavefunctions
J Chem Phys. DOI: 10.1063/5.0293823.
Admissibility of solitary wave modes in long-runout debris flows
Phys Rev E. DOI: 10.1103/6kxj-4vpg.
Multivariate metal-organic frameworks enable chemical shift-encoded MRI with femtomolar sensitivity
Nat Commun. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62110-4.
MicroBayesAge: a maximum likelihood approach to predict epigenetic age using microarray data
Geroscience. DOI: 10.1007/s11357-025-01716-4.
Dynamic ventilation functional MRI of the lung with sub-millimeter spatial resolution and millisecond temporal resolution
Sci Bull (Beijing). DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2025.05.014.
Embed-Search-Align: DNA sequence alignment using Transformer models
Bioinformatics. DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btaf041.
Microstructural geometry revealed by NMR line shape analysis
J Chem Phys. DOI: 10.1063/5.0245237.
Multi-tissue transcriptomic aging atlas reveals predictive aging biomarkers in the killifish
bioRxiv. DOI: 10.1101/2025.01.28.635350.
BayesAge 2.0: a maximum likelihood algorithm to predict transcriptomic age
Geroscience. DOI: 10.1007/s11357-024-01499-0.
Tissue adhesives based on chitosan for biomedical applications
J Mater Chem B. DOI: 10.1039/d4tb01362j.
BayesAge 2.0: a maximum likelihood algorithm to predict transcriptomic age
bioRxiv. DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.16.613354.
Enantiospecificity in NMR enabled by chirality-induced spin selectivity
Nat Commun. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49966-8.
BayesAge: a maximum likelihood algorithm to predict epigenetic age
Front Bioinform. DOI: 10.3389/fbinf.2024.1329144.
Information geometric bound on general chemical reaction networks
Phys Rev E. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.109.044308.
Harnessing biomaterials to amplify immunity in aged mice through T memory stem cells
ACS Nano. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c08559.
Nuclear induction line shape: Non-Markovian diffusion with boundaries
J Chem Phys. DOI: 10.1063/5.0179178.
Dual-Signal Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (Dusi-CEST): An Efficient Strategy for Visualizing Drug Delivery Monitoring in Living Cells
Anal Chem. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c03408.
Nuclear induction lineshape modeling via hybrid SDE and MD approach
J Chem Phys. DOI: 10.1063/5.0163782.
Systemic enhancement of antitumour immunity by peritumourally implanted immunomodulatory macroporous scaffolds
Nat Biomed Eng. DOI: 10.1038/s41551-022-00977-0.
Intramyocardial hemorrhage drives fatty degeneration of infarcted myocardium
Nat Commun. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33776-x.
Ultrasensitive molecular building block for biothiol NMR detection at picomolar concentrations
iScience. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103515.
Mapping cell viability quantitatively and independently from cell density in 3D gels noninvasively
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2021.3056526.
Damaged lung gas exchange function of discharged COVID-19 patients detected by hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI
Sci Adv. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abc8180.
Augmenting T-cell responses to tumors by in situ nanomanufacturing
Mater Horiz. DOI: 10.1039/d0mh00755b.
T-cell activation is modulated by the 3D mechanical microenvironment
Biomaterials. DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.120058.
A small molecular multifunctional tool for pH detection, fluorescence imaging, and photodynamic therapy
ACS Appl Bio Mater. DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.9b01080.
Augmentation of T-cell activation by oscillatory forces and engineered antigen-presenting cells
Nano Lett. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b02252.
Hyperpolarization of amino acids in water utilizing parahydrogen on a rhodium nanocatalyst
Chemistry. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201902878.
Nuclear spin singlet states in photoactive molecules
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201814198.
Breakdown of Carr-Purcell Meiboom-Gill spin echoes in inhomogeneous fields
J Chem Phys. DOI: 10.1063/1.5043495.
Noninvasive quantification of cell density in three-dimensional gels by MRI
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2018.2857443.
More Than 12% Polarization and 20 Minute Lifetime of 15N in a Choline Derivative Utilizing Parahydrogen and a Rhodium Nanocatalyst in Water
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201804185.
Mechanobiological mimicry of helper T lymphocytes to evaluate cell-biomaterials crosstalk
Adv Mater. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201706780.
Cytokine secreting microparticles engineer the fate and the effector functions of T-cells
Adv Mater. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201703178.
NOTCH1 is a mechanosensor in adult arteries
Nat Commun. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01741-8.
Effects of Cd vacancies and unconventional spin dynamics in the Dirac semimetal Cd3As2
J Chem Phys. DOI: 10.1063/1.4999467.
Increasing cancer therapy efficiency through targeting and localized light activation
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b05463.
Targeted nanodiamonds for identification of subcellular protein assemblies in mammalian cells
PLoS One. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179295.
Aqueous ligand-stabilized palladium nanoparticle catalysts for parahydrogen-induced 13C hyperpolarization
Anal Chem. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.7b01363.
Hyperpolarized 129Xe Magnetic Resonance Imaging Sensor for H2S
Chemistry. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201605768.
Mitochondria targeted and intracellular biothiol triggered hyperpolarized 129Xe magnetofluorescent biosensor
Anal Chem. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b03742.
Jarenwattananon and Bouchard reply
Phys Rev Lett. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.249702.
Direct Chemical Fine-Tuning of Electronic Properties in Sc2Ir6-xPdxB
Chemphyschem. DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201600512.
Erratum: Motional averaging of nuclear resonance in a field gradient
Phys Rev Lett. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.219903.
Biothiol xenon MRI sensor based on thiol-addition reaction
Anal Chem. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b00403.
4-D flow control in porous scaffolds: toward a next generation of bioreactors
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2016.2537266.
A Molecular Imaging Approach to Mercury Sensing Based on Hyperpolarized 129Xe Molecular Clamp Probe
Chemistry. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201600193.
Surface ligand-directed pair-wise hydrogenation for heterogeneous phase hyperpolarization
Chem Commun (Camb). DOI: 10.1039/c5cc08648e.
Nanoscale beta-nuclear magnetic resonance depth imaging of topological insulators
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1502330112.
Hyperpolarization of amino acid derivatives in water for biological applications
Chem Sci. DOI: 10.1039/c5sc00503e.
Motional averaging of nuclear resonance in a field gradient
Phys Rev Lett. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.197601.
Feature-preserving noise removal
IEEE Trans Med Imaging. DOI: 10.1109/TMI.2015.2409265.
A nanoparticle catalyst for heterogeneous phase para-hydrogen-induced polarization in water
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201409027.
Thermal maps of gases in heterogeneous reactions
Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature12568.
NMR probe of metallic states in nanoscale topological insulators
Phys Rev Lett. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.026602.
Nanodiamond landmarks for subcellular multimodal optical and electron imaging
Sci Rep. DOI: 10.1038/srep02668.
Real-time maps of fluid flow fields in porous biomaterials
Biomaterials. DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2012.11.030.
Strongly hyperpolarized gas from parahydrogen by rational design of ligand-capped nanoparticles
Sci Rep. DOI: 10.1038/srep00277.
Relaxivity of gadolinium complexes detected by atomic magnetometry
Magn Reson Med. DOI: 10.1002/mrm.22811.
Universality of cluster dynamics
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.82.061125.
A heteronuclear zero quantum coherence Nz-exchange experiment that resolves resonance overlap
J Am Chem Soc. DOI: 10.1021/ja1017865.
Shimmed matching pulses: simultaneous control of rf and static gradients for inhomogeneity correction
J Chem Phys. DOI: 10.1063/1.3243850.
Distortion-free magnetic resonance imaging in the zero-field limit
J Magn Reson. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2009.07.016.
Picomolar sensitivity MRI and photoacoustic imaging of cobalt nanoparticles
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0813019106.
Volume-selective magnetic resonance imaging using an adjustable, single-sided, portable sensor
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0811222106.
NMR imaging of catalytic hydrogenation in microreactors with the use of para-hydrogen
Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.1151787.
Spin coherence transfer in chemical transformations monitored by remote detection NMR
Anal Chem. DOI: 10.1021/ac062327+.
Para-hydrogen-enhanced hyperpolarized gas-phase magnetic resonance imaging
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. DOI: 10.1002/anie.200700830.
Multiple-quantum vector field imaging by magnetic resonance
J Magn Reson. 177(1):9-21. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2005.06.019.
Structural anisotropy and internal magnetic fields in trabecular bone
J Magn Reson. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2005.05.012.
Tensorial character of magnetization diffusion in periodic lattices
Phys Rev B. 70:224426. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.70.224426.
Observing Bragg-like diffraction via multiple coupled nuclear spins
Phys Lett A. 326:114-125. DOI: 10.1016/j.physleta.2004.04.017.
Reconstruction of porous material geometry by stochastic optimization based on bulk NMR measurements of the dipolar field
J Magn Reson. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2004.05.023.
Simultaneous acquisition of multiple orders of intermolecular multiple-quantum coherence images in vivo
Magn Reson Imaging. 22:1407-1412. DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2004.10.019.
Isolating quantum coherences in structural imaging using intermolecular double-quantum coherence MRI
J Magn Reson. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2003.08.007.
Magnetization structure contrast based on intermolecular multiple-quantum coherences
Magn Reson Med. DOI: 10.1002/mrm.10293.
Magnetic resonance imaging of thermal coagulation effects in a phantom for calibrating thermal therapy devices
Med Phys. 27:1141-1145. DOI: 10.1118/1.598980.
People
People behind the research.
The group brings together chemistry, biochemistry, and computational biology across experimental and quantitative work.
Principal Investigator
Louis-S. Bouchard
Professor, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.
lsbouchard@ucla.edu
Ph.D. Candidate
Lissy Wood
Chemistry, UCLA.
Ph.D. Candidate
Nicole Nolan
Biochemistry, UCLA.
Undergraduate Researcher
Jeannine Yu
Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, UCLA.
Undergraduate Researcher
Maggie De Leon
B.Sc. student, Human Biology and Society Program, Institute for Society and Genetics, UCLA.
Recent Graduate
YongJin Lee
B.Sc. graduate of UCLA's Computational and Systems Biology and Data Science Engineering programs.
Student Experience
A lab for builders, measurers, and theorists.
Students can learn to design instrumentation, make materials, analyze spectra, build models, and translate physics into tools for biology and medicine. The strongest candidates are usually curious across more than one discipline.
Email the labContact
Find us at UCLA.
Office
Young Hall 3048B
607 Charles E. Young Drive East
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Lab
Young Hall 2104 and 2042
UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry