Commercializing Biomedical Applications of Photonics

PSC Semi-Annual Conference and Workshop

Photonics Society Of Chinese Heritage (PSC)

中華光電學會

Workshop description

Biomedical photonics is a rich multi-disciplinary field, applying optical technology to improve quality of life with photonic methods for both diagnosis and treatment.

Recently commercial development has been accelerated by acute needs such as for COVID diagnostics, but also new possibilities due to technical advances such as in silicon photonics fabrication and AI computation.

This webinar brings together industry leaders to present their vision of how photonics innovation is supporting human health around the world. The target audience is photonics practitioners from diverse backgrounds. The talks will give the audience additional context as they follow future progress in this exciting field.

Keynote Introduction

Dr. Daozhi Liu

Founder & Managing Partner, Sunland Fund

Sunland Fund, founded in 2014, is a VC firm based in Shanghai with a US office located in the Boston Route 128, heart of global healthcare innovation. Sunland invests in early and growing medical and health industries, focusing on biomedicine and medical devices including in-vitro diagnosis and genetic technology, orthopedics, biomaterials, cardiovascular, minimally invasive surgery. It has invested in more than 30 companies in high-growth medical segments such as medical devices and robots.

Dr. Liu was previously a professor and material scientist at the National Institute of Metals and Materials in Japan, Wollongong University in Australia and Tianjin University in China. He was then an early entrepreneur, the founder of Shanghai Minimally Invasive Orthopedic Company. He has twice won the highest level of national awards - the National Invention Award and the National Science and Technology Progress Award. Dr. Liu has obtained more than 30 Chinese and international patents. In addition to founding Mountain Blue Capital, Sunland, he has served as the founder and director of several medical industry associations, including the director of the Chinese Society of Biomedical Engineering, the director of the Chinese Society of Biomaterials, the China Medical and Health Industry Investment and M & A CEO Summit and many more. Dr. Liu received his Bachelor of Science and Doctorate degrees from Nankai University in 1985 and 1991. He continued his post-doctoral studies at Oxford University in the UK.

Speakers and Panelists

Mr. Andrew Spector

Co-founder & COO, IR Medtek LLC

IRMedtek is an early stage company taking university optical research and finding a commercial home for it in rapid cancer detection.

Mr. Spector has extensive technical sales, marketing and business development experience in the fiber optics industry including at PIRI, Little Optics, ANDevices, and Antario Corp. He has an engineering background including stints at Hughes Aircraft Company and Mitsubishi Corp. He received his engineering degrees from U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Stanford University.

Ms. Leslie Kimerling

Co-founder& CEO, Double Helix Optics

Double Helix Optics commercialized Nobel Prize winning nanoscale 3D imaging technology with a portfolio of hardware and software tools for spatial biology. Initial application to bioscience and pharma R&D enables visualization, tracking, and counting for study of inter- and intra-cellular structures and dynamics with precision down to the single molecule level.

Ms. Kimerling is a career entrepreneur, working with early stage and growth companies in health and technology. She serves on the board of the Price Entrepreneurial Center at the Anderson Graduate School of Managment at UCLA. and enjoys serving as a mentor to women and other entrepreneurs in the optics field. She holds an MA in economics from Stanford University and an MBA with honors from UCLA Anderson.

Dr. Wenbin Jiang

Co-founder, CEO & Chairman of the Board, Cytek Biosciences, Inc.

Cytek Biosciences, a leading provider of cell analysis solutions, is headquartered in Silicon Valley and publically listed on NASDAQ since 2021. Its patented Full Spectrum Profiling™ (FSP™) cell analysis tools deliver high-resolution, high-content and high-sensitivity cell analysis by harnessing the information within the entire spectrum of a fluorescent signal.

Dr. Jiang also co-founded E2O Communications, a fiber optic subsystems manufacturing company, which was acquired by JDS Uniphase Corporation in 2004. Dr. Jiang is an inventor of 100 U.S. patents and an author of five book chapters and over 50 peer-reviewed technical papers. Dr. Jiang holds a B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Optics & Laser Physics from Fudan University and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from University of California, Santa Barbara.

Dr. Omur Sezerman

Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, OZ Optics Limited

OZ Optics, established in1985, is a pioneer and leading supplier of fiber optics components, test equipment and sensors. With over 10,000 customers in over 60 countries, OZ has a wide product range that span various industries including telecommunications, medical, military, security, industrial, construction, aerospace, power utilities, petrochemical and educational sectors. The company has multiple product lines including Fiber Optics Components for BioPhotonics and Fiber Optic Components for OCT Applications. In response to COVID-19, it was able to leverage the technology and expertise gained since its inception to quickly develop a rapid detection system. OZ Optics’ manufacturing operations are in Canada, Turkey and China.

Dr. Sezerman is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of OZ Optics Limited. He has his PhD in Physics from Dalhousie University. Due to his thesis’ budget constraints (Fiber Optic Laser Doppler Velocimeters), Omur invented an inexpensive Laser to Fiber coupling device for fiber optic delivery systems, which would launch him & his wife, Zahide on the creations of OZ Optics Limited. The company’s name is the first letter of Omur and Zahide’s first name (OZ)

Dr. Antonio Castelo

Photonics Technology Manager, European Photonics Industry Consortium, representing Medphab

Medphab is an EU-funded pilot line to accelerate the commercialisation and development of medical diagnostic devices and instruments for treatment based on photonics. The industrial consortium partners are validating the pilot line services for hospital use, home care diagnostics services or equipment for chemical diagnostics.

Dr. Castelo is a physicist specialized in optics and Program Manager at the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC). He has a strong interest in new technology involving photonics, such as ultrafast lasers, new medical devices and spectroscopy solutions. At EPIC, Antonio is in charge of the development of the lasers and medical fields, and all related technology and applications. As part of this remit, he is the leader of the Medphab’s workpackage for dissemination and communication of the Pilot Line services and activities.

Photonics Society of Chinese Heritage (PSC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promote friendships and collaborations among Chinese American engineers and scientists in the field of photonics so that they can enhance their professional and business contributions for better quality of life in this fast changing world.

Opening Talk (10 min)

Keynote Introduction (15 min)

Panel Presentation (75 min)

Mr. Andrew Spector, IR Medtek (15 min)
Ms. Leslie Kimerling, Double Helix Optics (15 min)
Dr. Wenbin Jiang, Cytek Biosciences (15 min)
Dr. Omur Sezerman, OZ Optics (15 min)
Dr. Antonio Castelo, Medphab (15 min)