Joseph R. Lakowicz

Dr. Joseph R. Lakowicz is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and serves as Director of the Center for Fluorescence Spectroscopy (CFS), which he established in 1988. He has maintained continuous NIH funding for 35 years and authored over 600 peer-reviewed publications, 23 books, and 40 U.S. patents.

Education

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana (1973)
• NATO Postdoctoral Fellow in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Biophysics, Oxford University

Research Focus
Dr. Lakowicz pioneered plasmon-controlled fluorescence and radiative decay engineering, enabling breakthroughs in sub-diffraction imaging, LED efficiency, and biosensing. His work spans fluorescence spectroscopy, lifetime imaging, and development of novel probes.

Scientific Leadership

• Founding Editor-in-Chief: Journal of Fluorescence, Journal of Biomedical Optics
• Co-Editor-in-Chief: Plasmonics
• Scientific Advisory Board Member: Multiple biotech and optoelectronics companies

Education & Outreach
He developed an internationally renowned graduate-level video lecture series on fluorescence spectroscopy and co-founded a week-long hands-on course attended by over 1,100 senior scientists globally.