Biophotonics: the big picture

The 5th International Conference on Biophotonics (ICOB) held April 30 to May 1, 2017, in Fremantle, Western Australia, brought together opinion leaders to discuss future directions for the field and opportunities to consider. The first session of the conference, "How to Set a Big Picture Biophotonics Agenda," was focused on setting the stage for developing a vision and strategies for translation and impact on society of biophotonic technologies. The invited speakers, panelists, and attendees engaged in discussions that focused on opportunities and promising applications for biophotonic techniques, challenges when working at the confluence of the physical and biological sciences, driving factors for advances of biophotonic technologies, and educational opportunities. We share a summary of the presentations and discussions. Three main themes from the conference are presented in this position paper that capture the current status, opportunities, challenges, and future directions of biophotonics research and key areas of applications: (1) biophotonics at the nano- to microscale level; (2) biophotonics at meso- to macroscale level; and (3) biophotonics and the clinical translation conundrum.