Biophotonics

Prof. Popp is Professor of Physical Chemistry at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Director of the Institute of Physical Chemistry, and Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT). He is Executive Director of the Abbe Center of Photonics and spokesperson of the Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), a national research infrastructure for the development and translation of photonic methods in infection diagnostics and therapy. His research has received numerous international distinctions, including the SPIE Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award and the Ellis R. Lippincott Award in 2026.

Research Areas

The research of Prof. Popp focuses on biophotonics and optical health technologies, with particular emphasis on translating spectroscopic and imaging methods into biomedical and clinical applications. Research topics include:

• Raman spectroscopy and Raman imaging
• Multimodal optical imaging
• Infection and sepsis diagnostics
• Optical oncology and intraoperative diagnostics
• Label-free cellular and tissue diagnostics
• Miniaturized and point-of-care photonic systems
• AI-supported spectroscopic data analysis
• Surface-enhanced and highly sensitive optical sensing

Teaching Fields

Prof. Popp gives courses in:

• Fundamentals of physical chemistry
• Innovative spectroscopy and imaging approaches for biophotonics
• Raman spectroscopy for biomedical diagnostics

Research Methods

The laboratories led by Prof. Popp, including those of the University and of the Leibniz-IPHT, cover a broad range of spectroscopic and imaging methods, including:

• Raman microspectroscopy and Raman imaging
• Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)
• Infrared spectroscopy
• Coherent Raman microscopy including CARS and SRS
• Multiphoton and nonlinear optical microscopy
• Fluorescence spectroscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging
• Multimodal optical imaging
• Fiber-, microfluidic- and chip-based spectroscopic systems
• Automated high-throughput spectroscopy and AI-based data analysis

Recent Research Results

Current research focuses on translating Raman spectroscopy and multimodal optical imaging into clinically applicable diagnostic systems. In infection research, Raman-based methods enable rapid characterization of microorganisms and their response to antibiotics. Recent work demonstrated on-chip Raman spectroscopy for antimicrobial susceptibility testing directly from blood cultures [1]. A second major focus is optical oncology. Raman-based systems are being integrated into clinical workflows for real-time tissue characterization, including in vivo measurements during head and neck cancer surgery [2] and rapid optical assessment of bladder tumors [3]. Beyond clinical diagnostics, new Raman imaging approaches extend molecular contrast into previously difficult spectral regions and provide additional possibilities for label-free molecular imaging [4].

[1] Grohs et al., Anal. Chem. 98, 22188 (2026).
[2] Bali et al., Sci. Rep. 15, 24230 (2025).
[3] Latka et al., Cancers 16, 3238 (2024).
[4] Schultz and Popp, Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 418, 483 (2026)

Link to the Popp GroupExternal link