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The University of Western Australia's Director of the Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, Winthrop Professor David Sampson, has been elected a Fellow of the prestigious international society for optics and photonics, SPIE.

Professor Sampson and his team at the Optical+Biomedical Engineering Laboratory have been working at the forefront of breakthrough technology which is perfecting microscopic resolution to aid surgical intervention - by putting a microscope inside a standard hypodermic needle to enable 3-D scanning.  In principal, it should allow surgeons to locate very small tumour elements, avoiding the need for further surgery and improving the prognosis of the patient.

SPIE recognised Professor Sampson's accomplishments as playing a critical role in advancing optical coherence tomography (OCT) technologies, particularly for the anatomic imaging of airway diseases and intraoperative surgical guidance in breast cancer.  SPIE also highlighted Professor Sampson's effective collaborations and productive leadership skills in the field.

The SPIE Fellowship adds to a string of accolades for Professor Sampson, reconising him as a world leader in the field of optical and biomedical engineering.  He was recently elected a Fellow of the prestigious Optical Society (OSA) and his team's work was included in the OSA's annual publication of the "Best of the Best" global research in optics for the year.  The team's research features in the Optics in 2012 and in a video showcasing the top highlights.

UWA Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Johnson congratulated Professor Sampson on receiving SPIE's recognition of his outstanding accomplishments.

"UWA is proud of the international standing of the work being done by David Sampson and his team," Professor Johnson said.  "His leadership in the field of optics has helped UWA achieve the top ranking of five in Optical Physics in the Excellence in Research For Australia (ERA) results."

In 2014, Professor Sampson will co-chair a new conference at Photonics West in the rapidly emerging area of Optical Elastography and Tissue Biomechancs.  He has served as a guest editor and serves as an editorial board member and reviewer for Journal of Biomedical Optics .  He is co-editing a Special Issue of the journal in Optical Elastography scheduled for publication in December 2013.

SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, a not-for-profit organisation founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies and has 225,000 members in 150 countries.

Media references

Winthrop Professor David Sampson (Director, UWA Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis )  (+61 8)  6488 5387  /  (+61 4) 14 239 586
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783