The primary goal of this conference is to bring together scientists, engineers, and clinicians interested in the application of optics to biotechnology, medicine, and surgery. This conference is intended to provide a forum for formal and informal discussion/interaction of all interested parties. We intend to emphasize the clinical applications of optics, with a focus on in vivo and molecular imaging, and to strongly encourage participation by clinicians. The conference is the 11th in the series on this topic sponsored by Engineering Conferences International.

The theme of the meeting is "Clinical Challenges and Research Solutions". There will be extensive formal discussion periods in each session and informal discussion periods will be encouraged. Oral sessions will include:

Nanobiophotonics and molecular probes

Session Chair: Samuel Achilefu, Washington University
Confirmed Speakers: Yasuteru Urano (University of Tokyo), Konstantin Sokolov (University of Texas - Austin), Chris Contag (Washington University), John Rasmussen (UT-Houston)
Spectroscopy (Raman, CARS, Fluorescence, IR, scattering, etc) - investigations at Cellular level

Session Chair: Rohit Bhargava, University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign
Confirmed Speakers: Michael Morris (University of Michigan), Shaul Mordechai (Ben-Gurion University), Simon Cherry (University of California, Davis)
In vivo imaging and animal models

Session Chair: Elizabeth Hillman, Columbia University
Confirmed Speakers: Richard Levenson (CRI), Tara Spires (Massachusetts General Hospital)
Clinical Optical Imaging and Diagnostics (Diffuse, Coherent, Spectroscopy)

Session Chair: Brian Pogue, Dartmouth College
Confirmed Speakers: Wendy Wells (Dartmouth College), Alon Scope (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center), Milind Rajadkyaksha (Purdue University), Summer Gibbs-Strauss (Harvard University), Peter Kaufman (Dartmouth College)
The oscopies (Endoscopy, Cytoscopy, Bronchoscopy, etc.)

Session Chair: Brian Wilson, University of Toronto
Confirmed Speakers: K. Gono (Olympus, Japan), Eric Seibel (University of Michigan), David Sampson (University of Western Australia), Malini Olivo (University of Singapore)
Optics for Systems Biology (Elucidating cellular processes and pathways)

Session Chair: Irene Georgakoudi, Tufts University
Confirmed Speakers: Adam Wax (Duke University), Sebastian Schluecker (University of Wurzburg), Jianan Qu (Hong Kong University), Bo Huang (Harvard University)
Dynamic fluorescence - FLIM, FRET, others

Session Chair: Daniel Elson, Imperial College London
Confirmed Speakers: Hans Gerritsen (Utrecht University), Nirmala Ramanujam (Duke University), Anand Kumar (Harvard University)
Clinical devices and systems (Industry)

Session Chair: Dennis Matthews, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Confirmed Speakers: Bill Colston (Quantalife)), Babak Nemati (Strategic Intel), Catherine Mohr (Intuitive Surgical Systems), Thomas Kruker (Novartis)
Clinical Challenges, Research Solutions -Physicians Session (Oncology, ophthalmology, cardiology, GI, neuroscience)

Session Chair: Reid Thompson (Vanderbilt University), Peter Konrad (Vanderbilt University), Claus Richter (NWU), Gregory Farwell (University of California, Davis)
International Perspectives on Optical Biomedicine (NIH, EU, Global Health)

Session Chairs: Paul French, Imperial College London, and Brett Bouma, Massachusetts General Hospital
Confirmed Speakers: Aydogan Ozcan (UCLA)), Juergen Popp (Friedrich Schiller University Jena), Katarina Svanberg (Lund University Hospital)
In each of the sessions, invited speakers will define the current state of the art and suggest new and promising research directions. Prior to an extensive poster session, selected presenters will provide short summaries of their posters.