Outreach

The XI School of Biophotonics is inaugurated

Santa María Tonantzintla, Puebla, August 9, 2023. More than 150 students from various states of the country attend the XI School of Biophotonics, which opened this morning at the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE), center public belonging to the National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conahcyt).

The School of Biophotonics is organized by the INAOE Coordination of Optics. The objective is to show undergraduate and graduate students in biology, chemistry, medicine, physics, mathematics, electronic engineering and related fields the professional possibilities offered by biophotonics. This discipline applies photonics in biological and biomedical processes to propose alternatives to traditional treatments and methods using light and develop biomedical applications.

The protocol ceremony this morning was chaired by Dr. Edmundo Antonio Gutiérrez Domínguez, General Director of INAOE; Dr. Francisco Renero Carrillo, Director of Academic Training; Dr. Teresita Spezzia Mazzocco, INAOE researcher, and Dr. Ricardo Lozano Rosas, postdoctoral researcher at the Coordination of Optics. These last two are members of the organizing committee of the School.

In his welcome message, Dr. Gutiérrez Domínguez explained that for more than 50 years INAOE has traditionally cultivated four areas: Astrophysics, Optics, Electronics and Computer Science. He added that in Optics they have been especially successful in biophotonics, which lends itself to interacting with other disciplines such as medicine, which gave rise to INAOE's transversal postgraduate programs in Biomedical Sciences and Technologies.

For his part, Dr. Renero Carrillo said that since its inception the Institute has participated in projects related to the area of health. He recalled the microscope and hearing aid projects that were developed decades ago. He also recalled the figure of Guillermo Haro Barraza, founder of INAOE. Likewise, he invited attendees to enter the INAOE postgraduate courses in any of its areas. Finally, Dr. Spezzia Mazzocco and Dr. Lozano Rosas reiterated their welcome to the students.
The invited speakers from the School of Biophotonics are doctors Malte Gather, from Cologne University; Valery V. Tuchin, from Saratov State University; Xavier Banquy, from the Université de Montréal; Karen Cortés Sarabia, from the Autonomous University of Guerrero; Elder de la Rosa Cruz, from the University of Bajío; María Josefina Robles Águila, from BUAP; Gerardo Santos López, from CIBIOR, and Miguel Méndez Rojas, from UDLAP.
On behalf of INAOE, the speakers will be doctors Francisco Renero Carrillo, Hayde Peregrina Barreto, Claudia Reyes Betanzo, Wilfrido Calleja Arriaga, Rubén Ramos García, Julio César Ramírez San Juan, Svetlana Mansurova and Teresita Spezzia Mazzoco.
The 11th INAOE School of Biophotonics will take place from today and will conclude on Friday, August 11. More information at https://www-optica.inaoep.mx/~EscuelaBiofotonica/index.php