Low-cost optical sensing for healthcare
Discussion meeting organised by Professor Jeremy J Baumberg FRS, FRSC and Professor Duncan Graham FRSC
The increasing emergence of novel optical sensors which operate at the nanoscale opens tantalising opportunities for low-cost paradigms in data-rich sensing that can impact Healthcare. Here we focus on continuous biochemical information (‘BioSensors 2.0’) which go far beyond currently physiological wearable or diagnostic sensors to probe information on health across a variety of settings, and ask which modalities can succeed.
Programme
The programme, including speaker biographies and abstracts, is available below. Please note that the programme may be subject to change.
Poster session
There will be a poster session on Monday 9 November 2026. If you would like to present a poster, , abstract (up to 200 words), author list, and the name of the proposed presenter and institution no later than Friday 9 October 2026. Acceptances may be made on a rolling basis so we recommend submitting as soon as possible in case the session becomes full. Submissions made within one month of the meeting may not be included in the programme booklet.
Attending the event
This event is intended for researchers in relevant fields.
- Free to attend
- Both virtual and in-person attendance is available. Advance registration is essential
- Lunch is available on both days of the meeting for an optional £25 per day. There are plenty of places to eat nearby if you would prefer to purchase food offsite. Participants are welcome to bring their own lunch to the meeting
Please note that scientific meetings hosted by the Royal Society do not necessarily represent a Royal Society position or signify an endorsement of the speakers or content presented.
Enquiries: contact the Scientific Programmes team
Organisers
Schedule
Chair
Professor Jeremy Baumberg FRS
University of Cambridge, UK
Professor Jeremy Baumberg FRS
University of Cambridge, UK
Professor Jeremy J Baumberg FRS is the Harald Aspden Professor of Fundamental Physics at the University of Cambridge, directing a key UK NanoPhotonics Centre. He develops optical materials structured on the nanoscale, with strong experience at Hitachi, IBM, and his spin-offs combining academic insight with innovation. With over 57000 citations (h-119), he is a leading innovator in Nano, leading to awards including the IoP Faraday gold Medal (2017) and Royal Society Rumford Medal (2014). He is currently chair of the UK EPSRC Council and advisor to ARIA. His recent popular science book is “The Secret Life of Science: How Science Really Works and Why it Matters”, see np.phy.cam.ac.uk.
| 09:00-09:05 |
Welcome by the Royal Society and lead organiser
Professor Jeremy Baumberg FRSUniversity of Cambridge, UK
Professor Jeremy Baumberg FRSUniversity of Cambridge, UK Professor Jeremy J Baumberg FRS is the Harald Aspden Professor of Fundamental Physics at the University of Cambridge, directing a key UK NanoPhotonics Centre. He develops optical materials structured on the nanoscale, with strong experience at Hitachi, IBM, and his spin-offs combining academic insight with innovation. With over 57000 citations (h-119), he is a leading innovator in Nano, leading to awards including the IoP Faraday gold Medal (2017) and Royal Society Rumford Medal (2014). He is currently chair of the UK EPSRC Council and advisor to ARIA. His recent popular science book is “The Secret Life of Science: How Science Really Works and Why it Matters”, see np.phy.cam.ac.uk. |
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| 09:05-09:30 |
Interferometric sensing of proteins and miRNA
Professor Selim UnluBoston University, US
Professor Selim UnluBoston University, US |
| 09:30-09:45 |
Discussion
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| 09:45-10:15 |
Surface plasmon resonance sensors for point-of-need applications
Accessing diagnostic tests in northern communities of Canada faces many challenges as they are only accessed by flight and most communities do not have clinical laboratories. Samples must therefore be shipped nearly 4000 km to be analysed in a major metropolitan area. Over the next few decades, human beings will be called upon to travel outside the Earth's magnetosphere on extended missions to the Moon and Mars. These journies will increase exposure to cosmic radiation, and thus the potential for radiation-induced disease. In both examples, inflammation markers monitoring is of importance as they correlate with a range of pathologies from infection to cancer. We are developing a small, portable instrument based on surface plasmon resonance and microfluidics to measure a panel of inflammation markers from a drop of blood. The concept is based on a disposable cartridge in which the drop of blood reacts with the surface of the device, and for which the concentration of markers is revealed by reagents inserted in the cartridge. The presentation will showcase the technological advances made to date, and demonstrate the technology's potential for health monitoring of inhabitants of remote communities and for astronauts. 
Professor Jean-François MassonUniversity of Montreal, Canada
Professor Jean-François MassonUniversity of Montreal, Canada Jean-François Masson is full professor of Chemistry and head of the Department of chemistry at the Université de Montréal. His laboratory develops new plasmonic materials, instruments, and surface chemistry for the detection of broad range of molecules directly in crude samples, which are then translated to functional sensors for a series of biological, environmental and industrial applications. He has published more than 150 research articles and his research has led to filing more than 10 patents on various instrumental, materials or surface chemistry innovations for biosensing. In 2015, he co-founded Affinité Instruments, a Canadian start-up company commercializing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) instrumentation. Jean-François received several awards including the McBryde Medal of the Canadian Society for Chemistry, and an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship, Germany for research at the Max-Planck Institute. In 2017, he was named Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry – UK. |
| 10:15-10:30 |
Discussion
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| 10:30-11:00 |
Break
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| 11:00-11:30 |
Fluorescence-based water testing
Professor Ashim DhakalPhutung Research Institute, Nepal
Professor Ashim DhakalPhutung Research Institute, Nepal |
| 11:30-11:45 |
Discussion
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| 11:45-12:15 |
Electrochemical sensors
Professor Pedro EstrelaBath University, UK
Professor Pedro EstrelaBath University, UK |
| 12:15-12:30 |
Discussion
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Chair
Professor Giulia Tagliabue
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Professor Giulia Tagliabue
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
| 13:30-14:00 |
SERS-based microfluidic sensing
Professor Zac SchultzOhio State University, US
Professor Zac SchultzOhio State University, US |
|---|---|
| 14:00-14:15 |
Discussion
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| 14:15-14:45 |
SERS based multicomponent sensing
Professor Molly StevensUniversity of Oxford, UK
Professor Molly StevensUniversity of Oxford, UK |
| 14:45-15:00 |
Discussion
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| 15:00-15:30 |
Break
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| 15:30-16:00 |
Optical typing of bacteria
Professor Jennifer DionneStanford University, US
Professor Jennifer DionneStanford University, US Jennifer (Jen) Dionne is a Professor of Materials Science and, by courtesy, of Radiology at Stanford. She is also deputy director of Q-NEXT (a DOE-funded National Quantum Initiative), a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator, and co-founder of Pumpkinseed, the "Biology Mining Company". Jen received her BS degrees in Physics and Systems Science and Mathematics from Washington University in St Louis, her PhD in Applied Physics at Caltech, and her postdoctoral training in Chemistry at Berkeley. As a pioneer of nanophotonics, she is passionate about developing novel methods to detect and direct biochemical transformations, emphasizing critical challenges in global health and sustainability. Her lab has demonstrated how AI-enabled Raman spectroscopy can be used to identify pathogens and predict their antibiotic resistance; and to monitor drug susceptibility of melanoma. She also forged new ground in developing in vivo tools for mechanobiology. Finally, she has pioneered environmental transmission electron microscopy, providing atomic-scale insights that enable catalysts for sustainable chemical manufacturing. Her work has been recognized with the NSF Waterman Award, a NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, a Moore Inventor Fellowship, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and was featured on Oprah’s list of “50 Things that will make you say ‘Wow’”. |
| 16:00-16:15 |
Discussion
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| 16:15-17:00 |
Poster flash talk session
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Chair
Professor Hatice Altug
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Professor Hatice Altug
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
| 09:00-09:30 |
Mid-IR sensing
Professor Hatice AltugÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Professor Hatice AltugÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland |
|---|---|
| 09:30-09:45 |
Discussion
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| 09:45-10:15 |
FTIR for cancer detection
Professor Matt BakerUniversity of Central Lancashire, UK
Professor Matt BakerUniversity of Central Lancashire, UK |
| 10:15-10:30 |
Discussion
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| 11:00-11:30 |
Colorimetric detection
Professor Charlie MaceTufts University, US
Professor Charlie MaceTufts University, US |
| 11:30-11:45 |
Discussion
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| 11:45-12:15 |
Optical sensing
Professor Giulia TagliabueÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Professor Giulia TagliabueÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland |
| 12:15-12:30 |
Discussion
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Chair
Professor Duncan Graham FRSC
University of Strathclyde, UK
Professor Duncan Graham FRSC
University of Strathclyde, UK
Duncan Graham is Distinguished Professor, Associate Principal and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Appointed lecturer in 2002, he was promoted to Professor in 2004 and elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2007. His awards include the RSC Corday Morgan Prize, Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award, Coblentz Society Craver Award, Society for Applied Spectroscopy Fellows Award, RSC Theophilus Redwood Award, FACSS Charles Mann Award, the 2025 RSC Interdisciplinary Prize and Honorary Lifetime Membership of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. He served for seven years as Editor in Chief of Analyst and is now Editor in Chief of Chemical Society Reviews. From 2017 to 2020 he was President of the RSC Analytical Division and Chair of the Analytical Chemistry Trust Fund; from 2020 to 2024 he chaired the RSC Publishing Board and served as an RSC Trustee. He has published over 300 papers, holds 17 patents, and has supervised more than 70 PhD students and 40 postdoctoral researchers. His research develops nanoparticle and spectroscopy based diagnostic assays for DNA, RNA, proteins and small molecule biomarkers.
| 13:30-14:00 |
QCM aptamer sensing
Professor Ciara O’SullivanUniversitat Rovira i Virgili, Catalonia
Professor Ciara O’SullivanUniversitat Rovira i Virgili, Catalonia |
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| 14:00-14:15 |
Discussion
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| 14:15-14:45 |
Biomedical imaging
Professor Elizabeth HillmanColumbia University, US
Professor Elizabeth HillmanColumbia University, US Dr Elizabeth Hillman is Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology and a member of the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and Kavli Institute for Brain Science at Columbia University. Dr Hillman received her undergraduate training in Physics and PhD in Medical Physics and Bioengineering at University College London. She was a post-doctoral fellow and then junior faculty at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School before joining Columbia University in 2006. Dr Hillman’s research program focuses on understanding the mechanisms of functional neurovascular coupling in the brain. Her lab also specializes in the design and development of novel optical imaging and microscopy techniques for capturing structure and function in the living brain. |
| 14:45-15:00 |
Discussion
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| 15:00-15:30 |
Break
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| 15:30-16:00 |
Nanoshell SERS for cancer detection
Professor Naomi HalasRice University, US
Professor Naomi HalasRice University, US Naomi J Halas is a University Professor and the Stanley C Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University. She was the first person to introduce structural control into the synthesis of metal nanoparticles to control their optical properties. She is the author of over 400 refereed publications, has more than 30 issued patents, and has presented more than 650 invited talks. She co-founded Syzygy Plasmonics, a company currently deploying light-based chemical reactors based on photocatalyst particles originally invented in her laboratory. She is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, and the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK). |
| 16:00-16:15 |
Discussion
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| 16:15-17:00 |
Panel discussion
Dr Xavi Prieto
Dr Xavi Prieto |