Prof. Laura Marcu
University of California, USA
Laura Marcu is a Professor of
Biomedical Engineering and Neurological Surgery at
the University of California, Davis. She received
her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the
University of Southern California in 1998. Dr. Marcu
is the founding director of the NIH-NIBIB P41
National Center for Interventional Biophotonic
Technologies at UC Davis, established in 2022. Since
2007, she has also served as co-director of the
Biomedical Technology Program within the UC Davis
Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research is
centered on biomedical optics, with a focus on the
development and clinical translation of label-free
optical technologies for real-time tissue
diagnostics. Her work spans applications in surgical
oncology, interventional cardiology, and tissue
engineering. Dr. Marcu has published a book and over
250 articles. She currently serves on the Editorial
Boards of Journal of Biophotonics and Translational
Biophotonics, and is an Associate Editor for Optica.
She is a Fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American
Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
(AIMBE), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES),
OPTICA, SPIE, and the National Academy of Inventors
(NAI).
Prof. Chris Xu
Cornell University, USA
Director of the School of Applied and Engineering Physics
Mong Family Foundation Director of Cornell Neurotech-Engineering
IBM Professor of Engineering
Chris Xu's group at Cornell pioneered the development of temporal focusing and long-wavelength two- and three-photon microscopy for deep-tissue imaging. His current research areas are fiber optics and optical imaging, with major thrusts in deep-tissue imaging, laser development, and smart and efficient optical imaging. Prior to Cornell, he was a member of technical staff at Bell Labs and pioneered the development of differential phase-shift keying for long-haul fiber-optic communications. He received his Ph.D. in Applied Physics, Cornell University, and his B.S. in Physics from Fudan University. He served as the Director of Graduate Studies in Applied Physics from 2007 to 2013, and the Director of Undergraduate Studies of the School of Applied and Engineering Physics from 2014 to 2016. Dr. Xu has chaired or served on many conference organization committees and NSF/NIH review panels. He served on the NIH NEI External Scientific Oversight Committee of the Audacious Goal Initiative and is currently serving on the Optica Biomedical Congress Strategic Planning Committee. He served as Associate Editor for Biomedical Optics Express, and is on the editorial boards of several journals. He has served and is currently serving as consultants or on the advisory boards of a number of commercial companies and academic research centers. He has published 9 book chapters and more than 300 journal and conference papers. Dr. Xu has delivered more than 300 plenary/keynote/invited conference presentations and research seminars. In addition, he has given dozens of outreach talks. He holds 25 patents on optical communications and imaging. He has won the NSF CAREER award, Bell Labs team research award, and the Tau Beta Pi and two other teaching awards from Cornell Engineering College. He received a Cornell Engineering Research Excellence Award in 2017 and was selected as an Ivy+ Provost Leadership Fellow in 2022. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and a fellow of Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America).
