About

Stephen Boppart is a Professor and Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), with appointments in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Bioengineering, the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. His Biophotonics Imaging Laboratory focuses on developing novel optical biomedical diagnostic and imaging technologies and translating these into clinical applications. His primary research areas include biomedical imaging, biophotonics, image-guided surgery, intravital microscopy, lasers in medicine and biology, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), optical diagnostics for cancer, point-of-care diagnostics, and primary care imaging. Prof. Boppart received his Ph.D. in Medical and Electrical Engineering from MIT and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School, with specialty training in Internal Medicine. He has published over 475 publications, delivered more than 1000 presentations, and holds over 55 patents related to optical biomedical imaging technology. Recognized as one of the Top 100 Young Innovators by MIT Technology Review, he has received numerous awards including the Paul F. Forman Engineering Excellence Award, the Hans Sigrist Prize, the IEEE Technical Achievement Award, and the SPIE Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award. He has co-founded four start-up companies to commercialize his optical technologies and is a member of the National Academy of Inventors. His leadership roles include directing the NIH/NIBIB P41 Center for Label-free Imaging and Multiscale Biophotonics (CLIMB), serving as Director of the GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging, and acting as Interim Director of the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute at UIUC. He has been actively involved in initiatives to integrate engineering, technology, and medicine to advance human health and healthcare systems, including his role in the development of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine and his current position as Illinois Co-Chair of the Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance for Technology-Based Healthcare.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Computer Science
• Biology
• Oncology
• Cancer research
• Biochemistry
• Emergency medicine
• Medical emergency
• Simulation
• Chemistry
• Endocrinology
• Anesthesia
• Immunology

Selected publications

• Unified Vibrational and Multiphoton Label-Free Nonlinear Microscopy for Simultaneous Chemical and Structural Imaging

  IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics · 2026-01-05

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Nonlinear microscopy enables label-free imaging by deriving contrast from the intrinsic spectroscopic responses of specimens, thereby offering a valuable tool for biomedical applications. Often, clinical imaging systems implement either multiphoton or vibrational contrast, not both. Consequently, most clinically deployed label-free nonlinear microscopes lack a robust, complementary contrast palette suitable for investigating the morphofunctional features of heterogeneous specimens. This deficiency limits not only the analytical capabilities of the nonlinear microscope but also its diagnostic utility. A main reason for this disregard is that the various imaging modalities impose distinct and stringent requirements on the excitation source and the detection chain. In this contribution, we propose a strategy that targets both multiphoton and vibrational contrasts to achieve a robust, complementary contrast palette. The approach emerges from a systematic investigation of readout schemes and provides engineering criteria to tailor the detection chain and thus maximize quantitative performance. In concert with this detection strategy, we present a compact laser source that drives vibrational coherences while simultaneously exciting multiphoton signals. We validate the resulting imaging platform using two rodent case studies: one involving a naturally occurring metastatic cancer in a mouse and another relying on an allogeneic mammary cancer model in a rat. Owing to its dimensions, cost, and versatility, we anticipate that this biophotonics tool will readily find its way into clinical applications.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Quantitative phase imaging and nonlinear simultaneous label-free autofluorescence multiharmonic microscopy for structural and functional imaging of cells and tissues

  2026-03-05

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Fiber-delivered excitation with local emission collection imaging apparatus (FELECIA) enables in situ label-free tumor margin detection

  2026-03-05

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Coherent Raman at GSK

  2026-03-05

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Electrocautery-driven alterations in tissue optical properties assessed by simultaneous label-free autofluorescence multi-harmonic (SLAM) microscopy and optical coherence tomography (OCT)

  2026-03-05

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Enabling digital histopathology through long-wavelength NIR CARS microscopy

  2026-03-05

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Surface versus Nanocatalyst-Induced Matrix Bubbles Govern Temperature-Dependent Biofilm Removal

  ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · 2026-03-31

  articleOpen access

  Bacterial biofilms protected by viscoelastic extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) are highly resistant to chemical disinfectants and rapidly regenerate after treatment. While bubble-mediated mechanical disruption has emerged as an eco-friendly antifouling strategy, bubbles generated by conventional tools act on biofilm surfaces and fail to disrupt three-dimensional biofilms. Here, we demonstrate that generating bubbles within biofilms, referred to as matrix bubbles, and controlling their dynamics with temperature, enables effective matrix disruption and biofilm removal. Using P. aeruginosa biofilms as a model system, we compared H2O2 alone with MnO2 nanocatalyst-doped biosilica microparticles (MnO2-biosilica) across a range of temperatures. H2O2 alone produced catalase-driven O2 bubbles localized on the biofilm surface with minimal temperature dependence, resulting in limited biofilm removal. In contrast, MnO2-biosilica generated temperature-amplified matrix bubbles that formed swarms, penetrated biofilms, disrupted EPS, and suppressed regrowth at elevated temperatures (25 and 40 °C). Kinetic and imaging analyses revealed that this temperature-dependent behavior arises from accelerated MnO2-catalyzed H2O2 decomposition coupled with enhanced bubble expansion and rupture, which deliver strong mechanical perturbation within the biofilm matrix. Importantly, nanocatalyst-induced matrix bubbles effectively removed biofilm from complex surgical instrument geometries and acted synergistically with autoclaving. This study therefore establishes temperature-controlled, nanocatalyst-mediated matrix bubble dynamics as a physical strategy for overcoming biofilm resistance in clinical and industrial settings.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Development of label-free multimodal multicontrast optical imaging platform for in-vivo intraoperative surgical margin assessment

  2026-03-05

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Mapping the metabolic distributions and dynamics of cells and tissues with label-free multimodal nonlinear microscopy

  2026-03-05

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Particle sizing and resolution enhancement in nonlinear microscopy imaging of extracellular vesicles

  2026-03-05

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R21CA115536

  NIH · $330k · 2009

• NIH Grant R44CA165436

  NIH · $2.2M · 2017

• Imaging tumor microenvironment by Optical Fiber-Tethered Simultaneous Lifetime-resolved Autofluorescence-Multiharmonic (OFT-SLAM) microscopy

  NIH · $1.6M · 2019–2023

• Fiber-Delivered Programmable Supercontinuum Laser Adaptive to EvolvingNeurophotonic Research

  NIH · $878k · 2019–2022

• NIH Grant R01EB009073

  NIH · $1.3M · 2014

Frequent coauthors

• Eric J. Chaney

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  251 shared

• Mark E. Brezinski

  Brigham and Women's Hospital

  234 shared

• Marina Marjanović

  Singidunum University

  222 shared

• James G. Fujimoto

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  206 shared

• Costas Pitris

  University of Cyprus

  195 shared

• Haohua Tu

  142 shared

• Darold R. Spillman

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  138 shared

• Brett E. Bouma

  105 shared

Labs

• Prof. Boppart's LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Bioengineering

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  1992

• M.S., Bioengineering

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  1988

• B.S., Engineering Physics

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  1985

Awards & honors

• Paul F. Forman Engineering Excellence Award from Optica
• Hans Sigrist Prize in the field of Diagnostic Laser Medicine
• IEEE Technical Achievement Award
• SPIE Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award
• Top 100 Young Innovators by MIT Technology Review magazine