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Jürgen Popp, a biophotonics researcher based in Jena, Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Jena, and Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT), has received the SPIE Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award 2026 in San Francisco. With this distinction, the international society for optics and photonics SPIE honors research that has advanced photonic diagnostics both technologically and conceptually and helped make them accessible for concrete clinical applications – ranging from intraoperative tumor detection to infection diagnostics.
In its award citation, SPIE recognizes Popp as one of the internationally leading figures in biophotonics. Early on, he identified the potential of Raman spectroscopy for medical applications, at a time when the technique was still far from being established in clinical research. His work has not only significantly advanced the scientific foundations of the field, but has also contributed in particular to translating Raman-based approaches into real clinical workflows.
Among the awarded developments are technologies for rapid, marker-free diagnostics – including approaches for the intraoperative identification of tumor margins – as well as laser-based rapid tests for infection diagnostics, which can offer a decisive time advantage in life-threatening infections and support the targeted use of antibiotics.
The award was presented on January 17, 2026, at the Photonics West conference and exhibition, one of the world’s most important events for optics and photonics. In the context of the award, leading international experts present current developments in optical biomedical research during the SPIE Hot Topics Session.
With this honor, SPIE recognizes not only Popp’s scientific achievements, but also their consistent translation toward medically relevant applications. His work exemplifies an approach that combines key photonic technologies with data-driven methods, opening up new pathways toward more precise, personalized, and preventive medical strategies.
“Professor Popp has made a decisive contribution to bringing physics, life sciences, and engineering together in a productive way,” says Laura Marcu, Professor at the University of California, Davis. This interdisciplinary perspective, she notes, has opened up new ways to systematically translate research results into medically relevant concepts.
Jena as a Strong Hub for Biophotonics Research
“I am very pleased to receive this award,” Popp says. “It reflects the work of many contributors. Our research thrives on strong partnerships – particularly with Jena University Hospital, but also with numerous international collaborators.” In this sense, the international recognition also underscores the strong position of Jena as a hub for biophotonics research and innovation.
How far Popp’s work extends beyond individual technologies was also evident in his further activities at Photonics West. In a panel discussion on digital twins in biophotonics, he joined international colleagues to discuss how data-driven models of biological systems could support future diagnostics and therapies – and why their validity critically depends on the quality of the underlying measurement data.
Digital Twins as a Future Concept: Detecting Disease Before Symptoms Appear
In a medical context, digital twins refer to individualized, continuously updated models of the human body or specific organs. Rather than capturing isolated snapshots, the goal is to understand changes over time: what is biologically normal for an individual, and at what point deviations begin to indicate emerging disease processes.
In this context, Popp presented the concept of a Personalized Optical Digital Twin, developed within the Health Working Group of the European technology platform Photonics21.
“The key question is how we can detect pathological changes earlier – that is, at a point when symptoms have not yet appeared,” Popp says. “That requires measurement technologies capable of providing reliable, gentle, and regular information from the body.”
Body Fluids as Early Indicators of Disease
Body fluids such as blood, saliva, or urine play a central role in this approach. They are considered windows into the body because they contain molecular patterns that reflect inflammation, metabolic changes, or other physiological processes. Photonic techniques such as Raman or infrared spectroscopy can capture these chemical “fingerprints” without the need for labels or staining.
What matters most is the trajectory over time. Only through repeated measurements does a meaningful picture emerge, allowing individuals to establish a personal health baseline. Digital models can then identify gradual changes in patterns – often long before diseases become clinically apparent.
Photonics Plus Sensor Data From Smartwatches
Within the framework pursued by Photonics21, optical methods are not used in isolation but are combined with additional data sources, such as physiological information from wearables like smartwatches. The digital twin emerges from the integration of multiple data streams, analyzed using AI-based models.
Popp emphasized in San Francisco that photonics plays a distinctive role in this context: only light-based techniques allow molecular processes in the body to be observed with high spatial and temporal resolution. It is precisely at this interface of photonics, life sciences, and data analysis that research at Leibniz-IPHT is focused.
Opportunities and Limitations
The discussion also made clear that digital twins in medicine are no silver bullet. Researchers such as Aydogan Ozcan (UCLA), Brian Pogue (Dartmouth Engineering), and Melissa Skala (Morgridge Institute for Research) discussed applications ranging from virtual staining to patient-specific models for treatment decisions. Brian Pogue pointed to the potential of digital twins for complex radiological treatment planning, while also warning that poor-quality input data can lead to misleading models. One point of consensus emerged: digital twins are only as good as the measurements that feed them.
Leibniz-IPHT Visible on the International Stage
The debate on digital twins is just one example of the topics represented by Leibniz-IPHT in San Francisco. Numerous researchers from the institute are presenting their work at Photonics West – spanning biophotonic infection diagnostics, imaging techniques, and laser and photonic technologies. Among them is Professor Tomáš Cižmár, who is presenting research on fiber-optic brain imaging. In addition, the Jena-based start-up DeepEn, a spin-off from his research group, is participating as a finalist in the SPIE Startup Challenge.
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Popp
Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT), Jena, Germany
juergen.popp@leibniz-ipht.de
https://www.spie.org/news/jurgen-popp-the-2026-spie-biophotonics-innovator-award Jürgen Popp: The 2026 SPIE Biophotonics Innovator Award
Professor Jürgen Popp, Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology and Direc ...
Quelle: Sven Döring
Copyright: Leibniz IPHT
Professor Laura Marcu (University of California, Davis) presents the SPIE Biophotonics Technology In ...
Copyright: SPIE
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