SPIE launches new journal, Biophotonics Discovery

BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA — SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, announces the launch of its newest Gold Open Access journal, Biophotonics Discovery (BIOS). The journal will open to submissions later this year, with the inaugural issue expected to publish in early 2024.

SPIE is launching Biophotonics Discovery to provide a peer-reviewed outlet for the extensive range of innovative research presented at the Photonics West BiOS Symposium each year. The new journal will complement the Society’s other biomedical journals: the Journal of Biomedical Optics (JBO), which focuses primarily on optical-device development, the Journal of Medical Imaging (JMI), and Neurophotonics. Uniquely, Biophotonics Discovery will cover the entire breadth of the BiOS symposium’s topics, including the more application-specific conferences, which previously did not have a clear peer-reviewed journal outlet with SPIE.

“Biophotonics Discovery is an exciting addition to SPIE’s portfolio of journals at the intersection of biology and photonics,” said Chair of the SPIE Publications Committee Cather Simpson. “Biophotonics Discovery aligns with the breadth and depth of the SPIE BiOS Symposium, the largest international biomedical optics conference. The new journal will serve an urgent need in the global community, by offering a new path to peer-reviewed publication of the novel, high-quality biophtonics research from the BiOS conference and beyond.”

Biophotonics Discovery will be helmed by Editor-in-Chief Darren Roblyer, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University who also holds an affiliate appointment in electrical and computer engineering. Roblyer’s research focuses on translational diffuse optical imaging and spectroscopy. His group develops wearables, remote patient monitoring technologies, and custom frequency-domain near-infrared spectroscopy techniques to address unmet clinical needs in cancer, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and autoimmune diseases. He collaborates with a multitude of physicians, physiologists, biologists, engineers, and physicists. Roblyer has been a recipient of the Department of Defense’s Era of Hope Scholar Award for breast cancer research, and the NIH Trailblazer Award, among others.

“I couldn’t be more excited about working with SPIE to launch Biophotonics Discovery,” said Roblyer. “This journal will provide an exciting new outlet for our community to publish cutting-edge biophotonics research that spans a wide range, from basic science to translational studies, with a focus on rigor and replication.” 

Roblyer received his BS degree in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University and received his PhD in bioengineering at Rice University where he studied under Rebecca Richards-Kortum. He did his postdoctoral work at the Beckman Laser Institute at the University of California, Irvine, studying under Bruce Tromberg.

Roblyer will appoint an editorial board for the journal, which will be drawn from both established leaders and emerging researchers in the biophotonics field.

“Darren Roblyer’s enthusiasm for this new journal will be contagious for the community,” noted SPIE Publications and Platform Director Patrick Franzen. “The EIC search committee has overwhelming confidence that he has the experience, creativity, and leadership drive to successfully launch a new journal in a competitive space.”

Open access fees will be waived for all submissions to the journal through 2024. Biophotonics Discovery will be published in the SPIE Digital Library, which holds the world's largest collection of optics and photonics applied research, comprising more than 590,000 publications. 

About SPIE

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, brings engineers, scientists, students, and business professionals together to advance light-based science and technology. The Society, founded in 1955, connects and engages with our global constituency through industry-leading conferences and exhibitions; publications of conference proceedings, books, and journals in the SPIE Digital Library; and career-building opportunities. Over the past five years, SPIE has contributed more than $22 million to the international optics community through our advocacy and support, including scholarships, educational resources, travel grants, endowed gifts, and public-policy development. www.spie.org.

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