Bio

Ugur Aygun is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow working as a postdoctoral researcher at Canary Center for Early Cancer Detection, Stanford University. He received his PhD in electrical engineering, specializing in optical biosensors, optical microscopy, computational imaging, and spectroscopy. His research focusing on the development of novel optical imaging techniques for biomedical applications.

Honors & Awards

  • Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow, European Commission (2023-2026)

Professional Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Koc University (2020)
  • Bachelor of Science, Istanbul Technical University (2013)
  • BSc, Istanbul Technical University, Electronics Engineering (2013)
  • BSc, Istanbul Technical University, Physics (Double Degree) (2013)
  • Visiting PhD Student, University of Cambridge, UK, Physics (2014)
  • PhD, Koç University, Electrical Engineering (2020)

Stanford Advisors

Contact

  • Academic
    aygun@stanford.edu
    University - Scholar Department: Radiology Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

All Publications

  • EV-Lev: extracellular vesicle isolation from human plasma using microfluidic magnetic levitation device. Lab on a chip Yaman, S., Devoe, T., Aygun, U., Parlatan, U., Bobbili, M. R., Karim, A. H., Grillari, J., Durmus, N. G. 2025

    Abstract

    Biological nanomaterials have unique magnetic and density characteristics that can be employed to isolate them into subpopulations. Extracellular nanovesicles (EVs) are crucial for cellular communication; however, their isolation poses significant challenges due to their diverse sizes and compositions. We present EV-Lev, a microfluidic magnetic levitation technique for high-throughput, selective isolation of small EVs (<200 nm) from human plasma. EV-Lev overcomes the challenges posed by the subtle buoyancy characteristics of EVs, whose small size and varied densities complicate traditional magnetic levitation techniques. It employs antibody-coated polymer beads of varying densities, integrating immuno-affinity and microfluidics to isolate EVs from sub-milliliter plasma volumes efficiently. It facilitates rapid, simultaneous sorting of EV subpopulations based on surface markers, such as CD9, CD63, and CD81, achieving high yield and purity. Subsequent size and morphology analyses confirmed that the isolated EVs maintain their structural integrity. EV-Lev could help uncover the cargo and function of EV subpopulations associated with multiple diseases including cancer, infectious diseases and help to discover potential biomarkers in small volume samples, while offering a portable, cost-effective, and straightforward assay scheme.

    View details for DOI 10.1039/d4lc00830h

    View details for PubMedID 39918033

  • Label-free imaging of exosomes using depth scanning correlation (DSC) interferometric microscopy Aygun, U., Ozkumur, A., Durmus, N., Demirci, U., Urey, H., Shaked, N. T., Hayden, O. SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING. 2020

    View details for DOI 10.1117/12.2543242

    View details for Web of Science ID 000558221300008