“As a professor of Biophotonics I have always been keen to develop novel photonics techniques to help patients. The hard-working team at Biophotonics@Tyndall is amazing, providing plenty of joy, stimulation and inspiration every day. Combined with world-leading collaborators from multiple disciplines, this provides an excellent work platform for applied and fundamental research in biophotonics. Tyndall and IPIC’s strategic importance to Irish society combined with the many biomedical device industries here provides fantastic research, funding, and industrial collaboration opportunities. These resources make Cork now unique. Our research involves clinical translation, addressing challenges identified by clinicians where photonics could potentially provide a solution. This includes surgical guidance, early detection/diagnostics of malignant tumours and monitoring of preterm infants. In addition we are conducting more fundamental research into deep Biophotonics tissue imaging. My MSc and PhD is from Physics at Lund University followed by a postdoc in Canada with Profs Brian Wilson and Michael Patterson. I became a full professor in Lund 1999 and have co-founded three companies, two now public and one acquired. IPIC recruited me in 2016 to build a biophotonics activity. I have received several prizes-including the SKAPA award, the most prestigious entrepreneurship award in Sweden; as well as the “Lindbomska belöningen” from the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences for my teaching achievements. At OSA I have been a member of the Board of Directors and the chair of the Membership and Education Council. I am the co-founder and organiser of the international summer school ‘Biophotonics’, given bi-annually since 2003. “