PROJECT SUMMARY The 2024 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Optics and Photonics in Medicine and Biology (OPMB), continues the long and rich history of inspiring and educating current and future generations of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers, and is one of the highest rated GRC meetings indicating the quality of the program and the inclusive community. This conference,which began in 1965, is respected as one of the premiere meetings for fostering creative research and ideas in biophotonics (science and engineering of light, lasers and optical technologies as it applies to medicine and biology). The primary objective of this meeting is to bring together researchers from academia, hospitals and medical clinics, national laboratories, and industry to understand and advance the use of light, lasers, and optical technologies in clinical care, as well as fundamental biological discovery. The conference specific aims are (1) to foster scientific exchange among researchers at the cutting-edge of biophotonics, from academic and clinical institutions, government laboratories, and industrial enterprises; (2) to integrate fundamental discovery, technological innovation and research applications spanning basic biology and biophysics to clinical medicine throughout the meeting; and (3) to strengthen and renew our international community of researchers by promoting a personal level of interactions between senior and junior faculty, post-doctoral fellows, research scientists, and graduate students in an informal environment, while ensuring diversity in gender, race, and culture. To enhance the participation of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at the conference, we will continue the hugely successful Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on OPMB, a forum organized by students and postdocs for their peers, that was started at the 2018 GRC. The 2024 conference will focus on connecting fundamental (bio)physical discovery and understanding to the development of novel optical technologies and applying these principles and technological advances to human physiology and clinical applications. This conference will bring together an outstanding and diverse group of scientists at the forefront of biophotonics research to stimulate discussion and exchange ideas. All speakers are encouraged to present new, unpublished research in the tradition of the “off the record” policy of the GRC. The intimate environment provides a unique experience for researchers across all levels to engage in scientific discussions and networking. The objective of the conference is well aligned with the mission of the NIH to advance knowledge and enable creative discoveries of living systems to reduce disease and improve health. This proposal requests funding to support the registration and travel costs of early career investigators, post-docs, and graduate students to attend the GRC and GRS to be held at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

PROJECT NARRATIVE The 2024 “Optics and Photonics in Medicine and Biology” Gordon Research Conference offers a premiere setting by which senior, junior, and student researchers in the field of biophotonics can assemble to intellectually survey the state-of-the-art while envisioning future research directions and applications. This funding request will support the participation of post-doctoral fellows and graduate students, with a special emphasis on women and under-represented minorities so that they may leverage the strong interdisciplinary focus of this conference and advance their scientific and engineering careers. With a conference theme of “Biophotonics: From Fundamental Physics to Applied Physiology”, this conference, and its emphasis on novel technology for biological discovery and clinical applications, explores the current and future cutting-edge uses of these advances for improving health and wellness.