Dr. Eric Betzig, 2014 Nobel laureate in Chemistry is a Group Leader at the Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Betzig's general research involves developing novel optical imaging tools in an effort to open new windows into molecular, cellular, and neurobiology.

Talk Abstract: As our understanding of biological systems has increased, so has the complexity of our questions and the need for more advanced optical tools to answer them. In my group, we develop such tools: super resolution microscopy for imaging cells down to near-molecular resolution; plane illumination microscopy for imaging 3D intracellular dynamics at high speed; and adaptive optics to recover optimal images from within optically heterogeneous specimens. The application of these tools to a diverse set of biological systems provides a visceral reminder of the beauty and complexity of life.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014 was awarded jointly to Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner "for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy".