Sophie Brasselet is an optical physicist. For the last fifteen years, shehas developed novel nonlinear microscopy and super-resolution tools based on polarized light, dedicated to biomolecular structural imaging. Using polarized fluorescence imaging approaches down to the single molecule level, she has pioneered the optical structural investigation of biological samples at the nanoscale, applied to bio-filament assemblies (actin amyloids). She has also extended the concept of polarization microscopy to label free nonlinear imaging, using two and three photon excitation or vibrational contrasts, applied to collagen and lipids structural imaging in biological membranes. The methodology that she has developed permits to reveal the degree of molecular order at sub-diffraction scales, which can be related to the ultrastructure of biomolecular assemblies that is of high importance in proteins interactions or in biomechanics. She is currently working on adapting these approaches at high dynamic rates and inside biological tissues, where light scattering properties need to be understood and mastered. She has published 120 peer reviewed articles; H index 42 (Web of Science).

Alberto Bilenca is an Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. His interests are in biomedical optics and in particular in tissue speckle imaging and SBS microscopy and particle tracking microscopy in biological settings.

Dr. Guck received his PhD in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001. After being a group leader at the University of Leipzig, he moved to the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University as a Lecturer in 2007 and was promoted to Reader in 2009. In 2012 he became Professor of Cellular Machines at the Biotechnology Center of the Technische Universität Dresden. As of October 2018 he is now Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light and the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin in Erlangen, Germany. His research centers on exploring the physical properties of biological cells and tissues, and their importance for cell function and behavior. He also develops novel photonic, microfluidic and scanning-force probe techniques for the study of these optical and mechanical properties. The ultimate goal is utilizing this insight for novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. He has authored over 120 peer-reviewed publications and four patents. His work has been recognized by several awards, amongst them the Cozzarelli Award in 2008, the Paterson Prize in 2011 and an Alexander-von-Humboldt Professorship in 2012.    

Dr. Kristie J Koski graduated from the University of Wyoming in 2002 with a B.S. in Physics and a B.S. in Chemistry where she worked with Jeff Yarger to develop Brillouin imaging. She attended graduate school at the University of California: Berkeley investigating high pressure nanoparticle phase transitions. This was followed by a postdoctoral position at Arizona State University in Brillouin spectroscopy and battery materials and a second position at Stanford University in topological insulators. Her research currently focuses on 2D materials, hierarchical Biomaterials, and Brillouin spectroscopy. When not doing science, Professor Koski is an adrenaline junky known for surfing massive waves, rock-climbing, and driving her over-powered muscle car way too fast.

Dr. Stevens earned his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry with an emphasis on solid-state mechanics in low-symmetry solids and spectroscopy from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the summer of 2005.  Following his graduate studies, Dr. Stevens joined the Dynamic Experimentation group (DE-9) at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a Postdoctoral fellow.  At LANL he extended his experimental studies in solid-state phase stability and mechanics to high pressure through combining diamond-anvil cell compression with synchrotron XRD investigation.  After approximately three years at LANL, he joined Cooperative Resources International (CRI) as a Manager of Technology and Development in late 2008.  Here he developed a quality-control platform to help unify and standardize operations across all environmental testing laboratories operating under CRI across the United States.  Dr. Stevens transitioned to the College of Pharmacy at the University of Iowa in November 2012.  Currently, as an Associate Professor, his research program in applied mechanics addresses challenging questions in material design and cell-material interactions as a physical approach to developing new and improved therapies.

Nikolay Surovtsev is a graduate of Novosibirsk State University in 1992. He prepared Ph.D. thesis at the University of Lyon, specializing in low-frequency Raman scattering of glassy polymers. Then his research interest was also extended to Brillouin spectroscopy. In the last two decades, he has worked at the Institute of Automation and Electrometry (Novosibirsk, Russian Academy of Sciences). His research group applies inelastic light scattering spectroscopy for different problems of condensed matter physics with a focus on glass-formers, phospholipid materials, and biological cells.