Funds are requested from the NIH Conference Grant Program to support the conference, """"""""Advances in Optics for Biotechnology, Medicine and Surgery"""""""", which is scheduled for August 3-7, 2 003, in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The conference is being organized under the auspices of the Engineering Conferences International (formerly United Engineering Foundation). This meeting is residential in nature, broad in scope and emphasizes interactions and informal discussion among participants who come from universities, national laboratories and industry. This conference is the 8th in a series and has been among the most successful of the Engineering Foundation conferences. Its content spans nearly the entire field of optics in biology and medicine and will include sessions on laser-tissue interactions, photodynamic therapy, molecular imaging, in vivo spectroscopic diagnostics, cell microscopy and mesoscale imaging, optical coherence tomography, photon migration, and a session dedicated to contributed posters. We believe the conferences have been instrumental in generating ideas and disseminating information to a greater extent than is possible through more conventional forums. All participants contribute actively to the discussions. In addition, there is strong interaction between the scientists and clinicians who are leaders in their fields with the graduate students and postgraduate students, which adds a strong educational component to this conference. The complete program for the conference, including a roster of confirmed invited lecturers, is attached as an appendix to this application. Funding is requested to help reimburse the conference expenses of our outstanding invited speakers and of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
