Lavis's lab uses modern chemical syntheses to develop small molecule dyes for biological research. In particular these new dyes offer increased brightness, new spectral regions, and biocompatible features such as cell permeability. In addition to improved performance for conventional uses, these dyes have enabled microscopy advances such
PALM and other techniques for
super-resolution microscopy. Many potential users of these newly developed dyes do not have the facilities, or the expertise, to synthesize them themselves, even when the structure known. To help these scientists, Lavis and his lab act as a "dye Santa", who disseminate these dyes for free to colleagues and other labs. == Awards and honors ==