Imaging · Devices · Engineering · Applications for Skin
IDEAS Lab
We build imaging systems, devices, and computational methods to see and measure human skin in ways the eye cannot — turning light and color into clinically meaningful insight.
Seeing skin differently
The IDEAS Lab develops imaging and visualization tools that reveal structures and signals hidden in human skin — from sub-surface vasculature to the distribution of pigment and inflammation. We combine optics, custom devices, and image-analysis algorithms to support dermatology research and clinical care.
Our work spans the full pipeline: capturing skin with thermal, multispectral, and conventional imaging; engineering processing methods that separate competing signals such as melanin and erythema; and translating those methods into applications clinicians and researchers can use. Edit this paragraph with your lab's specific mission and institution.
What we work on
Four threads, one goal: better ways to image, quantify, and understand skin.
Imaging & Visualization
Multispectral, thermal, and color imaging of skin — surfacing vasculature, pigment, and inflammation that are difficult to see by eye.
Devices
Custom and off-the-shelf capture hardware — from radiometric thermal cameras to multispectral rigs — adapted for reproducible skin measurement.
Engineering & Algorithms
Image-analysis methods — segmentation, contrast enhancement, and colorspace models that separate melanin from erythema for clearer quantification.
Clinical Applications
Translating imaging into practice — quantifying erythema, mapping pigment in conditions like vitiligo, and assessing sun protection.
Selected figures
Our team
The researchers and collaborators behind the IDEAS Lab.
Principal Investigator
William Lewis, MD
Principal Investigator · Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
William Lewis is an Instructor in Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he directs the IDEAS Lab. His work bridges biomedical optics, device and software development, and clinical dermatology, with a focus on low-cost, accessible imaging tools for skin.
He earned his BA summa cum laude from Boston University and his MD from Harvard Medical School, where his research at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine spanned photodynamic and laser therapy and the optical imaging of skin and vascular tissue. He completed internal medicine training at UCLA and dermatology residency at the University of Pennsylvania — both in global-health pathways that included clinical work in Malawi and Guatemala. Since returning to Boston in 2024, he has built a program developing smartphone-based imaging of erythema in skin of color, micro-fractional cryotherapy, and new approaches to clinical skin microscopy — work recognized by the Skin of Color Society. He also serves as Director of Medical Student Research in Dermatology at BIDMC.
Current Team
Daniel Cubillos Rojas-Alejandro, MD
Research Fellow · 2026–2027
Imaging & image processing · Bogotá, Colombia (prev. Purdue)
Janelle Clovie
Medical Student
Boston University School of Medicine
Amr Seifelnasr
Researcher · UMass Lowell
Fractional cryotherapy modeling
Collaborators
Walfre Franco, PhD
Collaborator
Chair, Biomedical Engineering · Francis College of Engineering, UMass Lowell
Alumni
Dalton Driscoll
Alumnus
PhD student, Biomedical Engineering · UMass Lowell
Sophie Numan
Alumna
Research Assistant · IDEAS Lab
Luxanna Sands
Alumna
NSF REU Summer Researcher · UMass Lowell
Selected work
Selected publications from the lab and its collaborators.
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Smartphone Imaging of Subcutaneous Veins
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RGB Skin Erythema Imaging
Work with us
Interested in collaboration, joining the lab, or learning more?
Email: wlewis2@bidmc.harvard.edu
Location: Department of Dermatology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center · Boston, MA