The Photonics Media team is just back from SPIE Photonics West, and you will find coverage in print and online, including a full segment shot on-site for the Feb. 18 edition of the Light Matters weekly newscast. As usual, there was no shortage of new information to consider. I attended the BiOS event with BioPhotonics’ editor, Rodd Pedrotti. It was Rodd’s first trip to the annual show and conference, and be assured that what he learned there will inform his leadership of the magazine – at least until next year’s event! The Prism Awards ceremony, co-sponsored by SPIE and Photonics Media, is one of the jewels in the week-long gathering. You can read about all the finalists online at www.Photonics.com and in the January issue of BioPhotonics. I’m pleased to tell you that the winner in the Biomedical Instrumentation category is BacterioScan, which won for its Laser Microbial Growth Monitor. The low-cost device measures bacteria in fluids at concentrations below the detection limits of other technologies. Winners in other categories that have implications for the life sciences include Luxexcel for its Printoptical Technology and Hamamatsu for its C12666MA Micro-spectrometer. For a complete list of the winners, visit www.photonicsprismaward.com/winners.aspx. In this issue’s cover story, “Multiphoton Imaging Takes New Directions,” authors Julien Klein and Dr. Philip G. Smith, of Spectra-Physics, reveal why advances in femtosecond ultrafast laser systems have been critical to the widespread adoption of multiphoton excited fluorescence imaging for biological research. The article begins on page 29. Also in this issue: • “Raman Spectroscopy and Microscopy Enable Life Science Discoveries,” by Dr. Marinella G. Sandros, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Dr. Fran Adar, Horiba Scientific, starting on page 25; • “Diverse Applications Drive Lasers for Multiphoton Microscopy,” by Marco Arrigoni, Darryl McCoy and Dr. Nigel Gallaher, Coherent, starting on page 32; and, • “Lens-Free Microscopy Goes Scalable,” by Jan Provoost and Richard Stahl, imec, starting on page 37.