Director’s Letter

This past year was a pivotal one for the Boston University Neurophotonics Center (NPC)…

with the launch of our NIH-funded T32 Training Program, designed to strengthen and expand our growing community of trainees. This new funding allows us to enhance our established “Introduction to Neurophotonics” bootcamp for rising second-year PhD students with a complementary “Data Science” bootcamp for rising third-year students. The response from trainees has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic as they are eager to adopt best practices in advanced data analysis, coding, and software management that will serve them well throughout their research careers.

We have also introduced a new element to the training activities: a three-day quantitative skills workshop offered each semester. In Fall 2024, Ryan Raut led a session on quantitative reasoning for neurophotonics time-series data, combining a conceptual overview with hands-on Python exercises. In Spring 2025, Stefan Mihalas from the Allen Institute guided trainees through neural dimensionality analysis, subspace comparisons, and cross-session neural data evaluation, again paired with interactive exercises using real datasets. These sessions have been met with strong engagement and have set a high bar for future NIH T32 supported Quantitative Skills Workshops.

Perhaps most exciting is the launch of the Neurophotonics Trainee Organization (NTO), an entirely trainee-led initiative that has rapidly become a hub for community building and professional development. The NTO now coordinates a variety of committees and events, including regular Neuroethics Discussions with invited experts, monthly Neurotechnology Tutorials followed by our Neurophotonics Social, and, as of this year, the new Neurophotonics Podcast—five episodes and counting in its inaugural year. NTO plans for the coming year include engaging alumni and industry leaders, organizing journal clubs, and expanding career development activities. I encourage all members of our community to support and participate in these efforts.

Our 8th Annual Neurophotonics Symposium in January 2025, organized by Meg Younger and Chris Gabel, took on the theme “Neurophotonics Across the Animal Kingdom.” The program featured sessions spanning invertebrates, small mammals, and clinical translation, creating a uniquely broad perspective that kept the room filled with an engaged audience from across Boston all day long. This continued growth in attendance and diversity of topics reflects both the strength of our community and the appeal of the symposium as a gathering place for the regional neurophotonics field.

On the research and technology front, we have much to look forward to. Prof. Anna Devor, with support from many in the NPC community, secured an NIH Shared Instrument Grant to install a state-of-the-art three-photon microscope by the end of 2025. I encourage you to start planning experiments now to take full advantage of this capability. Meanwhile, our work in functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) continues to expand, with whole-head, high-density systems enabling 200-optode coverage now in regular use. These systems are opening new opportunities for studying neurorehabilitation in Parkinson’s disease, post-stroke gait recovery, and aphasia, among other areas. Efforts are also underway to miniaturize and simplify the technology for independent home use by patients, extending its reach into real-world and clinical environments.

The momentum in neurophotonics at BU remains strong, driven by new resources, an increasingly vibrant training ecosystem, and the energy and creativity of our faculty, trainees, and staff. I look forward to seeing how our community leverages these opportunities in the year ahead.

David Boas
Director, Boston University Neurophotonics Center
August 2024