Robert Alfano Receives OSA’s Feld Biophotonics Award

Dr. Robert R. Alfano, a pioneer in ultrafast optical science and engineering, is the 2016 recipient of the Optical Society of America (OSA) Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award. The award recognizes individuals for their innovative and influential contributions to the field of biophotonics.

The OSA cited Alfano for his leadership and pioneering contributions in the field of biophotonics, comprising the diverse use of label -free native fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy, and optical imaging for cancer detection in tissues and cells.

He will be honored at the OSA annual meeting this October at the University of Rochester. This is the latest award in Alfano’s stellar research career. His recent honors include the American Physical Society’s Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science (2013), SPIE’s Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award (2012); and OSA’s Charles Hard Townes Award (2008).

Alfano holds 114 patents, has raised $64 million in photonics research funding and has mentored 56 PhD students at the City College of New York since 1972, where he is currently a professor of science and engineering.

The third edition of Alfano’s book, The Supercontinuum Laser Source: The Ultimate White Light (Springer, February 2016) was published recently.