Biophotonics '09

The 4^th International Graduate Summer School Biophotonics '09 held in June 2009 at Backafallsbyn on the island Ven emphasised imaging in the medical context, while also teaching the basics of light-tissue interaction and its applications. It was a huge success in terms of education, scientific exchange, and personal friendships.

We, the organizers, would like to express our gratitude to the lecturers for taking time to teach at the school and spending valuable time with the students. It is admirable that all lecturers participated without receiving any fee. We also greatly appreciate the financial support and donations we received from various sponsors making this event possible.

Furthermore, we extend our thanks to all participants for their enthusiastic contributions during the discussions following the lectures and especially during the poster sessions.

Scope

The 4^th International Graduate summer school Biophotonics '09 covered the following main areas:

Lasers and their application in medicine
Tissue optics
Photodynamic therapy
Optical tweezers and their applications in biophotonics
Optical biosensors
Molecular imaging based on optical methods
Optical coherence tomography and coherence domain optical methods in biomedicine

Lecturers

Professor Darryl J. Bornhop, Chemistry Department, Vanderbilt University, USA
- Interferometry for measuring molecular interactions
Professor Kishan Dholakia, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom
- Optical micromanipulation for biophotonics
Professor Stefan W. Hell, Dept. of NanoBiophotonics, Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany
- Fluorescence nanoscopy: Principles and applications in life sciences
Professor Joseph Izatt, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, USA
- Optical coherence tomography for structural, functional, and quantitative phase imaging in biomedicine and biotechnology
Professor Steven Jacques, Oregon Health & Science University, USA
- Tissue optics
Professor Eva Sevick-Muraca, Brown Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas, USA
- Near-infrared fluorescence for medical imaging and tomography
Professor, MD Katarina Svanberg, Lund University Hospital, Dept. Of Oncology, Sweden
- Strategies for cancer treatment using lasers and photodynamic therapy
Professor Sune Svanberg, Lund University, Dept. of Physics, Sweden
- Lasers and spectroscopy in medicine
Professor Roy Taylor, Imperial College London, Dept. of Physics, United Kingdom
- Supercontinuum light sources
Professor Bruce Tromberg, University of California, Beckman Laser Institute, USA
- Medical imaging in thick tissues using diffuse optics
Professor Hubert van den Bergh, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Institut de l'environnement, Switzerland
- Using light for the detection and treatment of disease: From bench to bedside