Video interview: Fran Ligler on biosensing applications and challenges

Optical biosensors are moving from the laboratory to the point of use. New concepts for molecular recognition, nanostructured materials, integration of microfluidics and optics, simplified fabrication technologies, systems integration concepts, and public concerns drive this movement. These factors and other innovations will lead to smaller, faster, cheaper optical biosensors with capacity to provide effective and actionable information.

Frances S. Ligler is the Navy's Senior Scientist for Biosensors and Biomaterials, an SPIE Fellow, and a member of the Bioengineering Section of the National Academy of Engineering. She earned a B.S. from Furman University and both a D.Phil. and a D.Sc. from Oxford University. Currently working in the fi elds of biosensors and microfluidics, she has also performed research in biochemistry, immunology, and proteomics. She has over 300 full-length publications and patents, which have been cited over 6700 times and generated an H-index of 45. She is the winner of the Navy Superior Civilian Service Medal, the Chemical Society Hillebrand Award, and the national Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Outstanding Achievement in Science Award, among many others. She is the American representative on the organizing committees for the International Biosensors Congress and Europt(r)odes, the European Conference on Optical Sensors. In 2003, she was awarded the Homeland Security Award (Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Field) by the Christopher Columbus Foundation and the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Senior Professional by President Bush.

Ligler gave a plenary presentation on optical biosensors and was interviewed for SPIE Newsroom at SPIE Photonics West 2011.