2026 Optics and Photonics in Medicine and Biology Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research Seminar

About This Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY The 2026 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Optics and Photonics in Medicine and Biology (OPMB) continues the nearly six-decade tradition of inspiring and educating current and future generations of interdisciplinary scientists, engineers, and clinicians. This conference, which began in 1965, has consistently received among the highest satisfaction ratings of all GRC meetings and is widely regarded as of of the premiere forums for fostering creative research and generating new ideas in biophotonics – the science and engineering of light, lasers, and optical technologies applied to medicine and biology. The primary objective of the 2026 meeting is to bring together researchers from academia, clinical institutions, national laboratories, and industry to advance the use of light, lasers, and optical technologies in both fundamental biological discovery and clinical care. The 2026 theme, “From Enabling Technologies to Clinical Applications: Advancing Science and Medicine with Light”, captures the breadth of this bench-to-bedside continuum. Specific aims are to: (1) foster scientific exchange among researchers at the cutting edge of biophotonics; (2) integrate fundamental discovery, technological innovation, and applications ranging from basic biology and biophysics to clinical translation; and (3) strengthen and renew the international biophotonics community by promoting personal interactions between junior and senior participants—including graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, early-career investigators, senior scientists, laboratory heads, industry representatives and government program leaders—in an informal, engaging environment. The program will ensure broad representation across disciplines, geography, career stages, and demographics. All speakers will be encouraged to present new, unpublished, and scientifically significant (and occasionally provocative) research in the “frontiers-of-science, off the record” GRC tradition. The intimate scale and immersive format provide unparallelled opportunities for networking and scientific discussion. To enhance trainee engagement, the meeting will be preceded by the successful Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on OPMB—a 1.5 day forum organized by and for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (initiated in 2018). The conference aligns strongly with the NIH mission to advance knowledge in living systems, reduce disease, and improve health. This R13 proposal seeks support to offset registration and travel costs for graduate students, post-docs, and early-career investigators, thereby encouraging the participation and active engagement of the next generation of leaders in biophtotonics.