Behind the Science: Conversations with Spectroscopy Innovators

As science continues to evolve at remarkable speed, spectroscopy has evolved alongside it, driven by advances in instrumentation, data science, and emerging applications across life sciences, materials research, environmental monitoring, and beyond.

To capture the perspectives shaping this momentum, this article features focused interview segments Spectroscopy editors have conducted with key opinion leaders at the forefront of technique innovation in 2025. These experts share their views on technological breakthroughs, analytical challenges, and the trends poised to redefine how we interrogate matter at every scale. Each installment offers readers a clear, candid window into where spectroscopy is heading—and the people steering its future.

A Life of Spectroscopic Exploration: An Interview with Professor Yukihiro Ozaki, Recipient of the 2025 Ellis R. Lippincott Award

With a career spanning over four decades, Ozaki has been a driving force in advancing both the fundamental understanding and practical applications of spectroscopic techniques in fields ranging from materials sciences including nanomaterials, food science, and biomedical sciences. In our interview discussing his 2025 Ellis R. Lippincott Award, Ozaki discussed facing and overcoming challenges in his career and his current research interests, as well as offered advice to young scientists aspiring to follow in his footsteps in this ever-advancing field of science.

What has been the most difficult scientific challenge you have faced in your career, and how did you overcome it?

The most difficult scientific challenge I have faced in my career was Raman measurements of organs and tumors in 1980s. We overcome these problems using FT-Raman spectroscopy in 1993. We succeeded in obtaining beautiful Raman spectra of human brain tissues. Nowadays people use NIR excited dispersive Raman systems to avoid fluorescence.

What advice would you give to young researchers who are interested in pursuing a career in vibrational spectroscopy?

Do not stick to past studies or subjects! Travel the world in search of something new! Propose your own spectroscopy that adheres to the existing spectroscopies. Consider applications based on new concepts, such as health science, disaster science, and sensory science, quality technology. The combination of existing spectroscopies may have the potential to create something new, like the combination of FUV and UVRR that we have conducted. In science, serendipity is the most important.

Geraldine Richmond Reflects on Her Research and NYSAS Gold Medal Win

Richmond, presidential chair in science and professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon, sat down with Spectroscopy to discuss the molecular behavior of complex liquid interfaces, and how she used laser-based spectroscopy and theoretical methods in her research to gain insights on this behavior.

Your pioneering use of nonlinear optical spectroscopies like vibrational sum-frequency generation has revealed the behavior of water at interfaces. What has surprised you most about water’s molecular organization at air–water versus oil–water boundaries?

The weak bonding interaction between the water and the oil, which leads to water orientation which was previously not considered to happen based on theoretical studies. We conducted a whole series of experiments and confirming computational work to show how this weak bonding varies as you go from the most nonpolar organic solvent to ones with increasing yet small polarity.

How do buried liquid–liquid interfaces challenge conventional spectroscopic probing, and what experimental innovations have you introduced to overcome these obstacles?

With conventional spectroscopy and a liquid/liquid interface, the nonlinear sum frequency method comes directly from the interface whereas a linear spectroscopic method, that molecular level sensitivity is much more difficult to get. The tradeoff is that the sum frequency vibrational signal is orders of magnitude lower than, for example a linear reflection measurement. Our contribution to the field has been to conduct the experiment in a total internal reflection geometry. This has allowed us much success in a multitude of studies of adsorption at the planar oil-water interface by providing an increase in several orders of magnitude increase in an otherwise weaker sum frequency signal.

Enhancing CO₂ Conversion with DRIFTS-Guided Catalyst Design

Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) allows real-time monitoring of reaction intermediates on catalyst surfaces, offering critical insights for catalyst design. We spoke to Shreya Singh of Cornell University about using DRIFTS for the photocatalytic conversion of CO₂.

What are the critical next steps to make photocatalytic CO₂ conversion commercially viable?

Current lab-scale reactors, which rely on artificial light sources and powdered catalysts, are not directly scalable for industrial application. New reactor designs that maximize sunlight exposure and utilize immobilized thin-film catalysts are essential to improve efficiency and simplify product separation. These advancements should be complemented by rational catalyst engineering to enhance activity and selectivity. Additionally, deployment should focus on high CO₂-emitting industries, integrating suitable CO₂ capture strategies tailored to the specific flue gas composition.

Harnessing Raman Spectroscopy and Machine Learning for Liquid Biopsy Classification: An Interview with 2025 Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy Award Winner Lingyan Shi

Spectroscopy's 2025 Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy, Lingyan Shi of the University of California San Diego, is advancing the role of spectroscopy in cancer diagnostics through innovative machine learning–driven analysis of Raman spectra. In a recent collaborative study between UC San Diego and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Shi and her team explored how Raman-based liquid biopsies can be improved by using machine learning (ML) to classify exosomes derived from different cancer cell lines. Spectroscopy spoke with Shi about the significance of this approach and what it could mean for the future of noninvasive cancer detection.

How could Raman spectroscopy, combined with ML, impact early cancer detection and personalized treatment strategies?

Together, Raman spectroscopy and ML offer a powerful platform for fast, real-time, molecular-level diagnostics. They enable early detection through the identification of subtle biochemical changes and facilitate accurate cancer classification and therapeutic response prediction—key steps toward truly personalized cancer care.

What potential does this approach have in classifying cancer subtypes, such as those found in breast cancer?

Raman spectral signatures reflect biochemical differences between cancer subtypes. When paired with machine learning, this method can detect and classify these subtle variations, making it a promising tool for stratifying cancer subtypes, including breast cancer, and informing personalized treatment decisions.

The Role of ICP-OES in Analyzing the Metal Content in Pet Food

Because the United Arab Emirates is seeing an increase in pet ownership, the quality of both dry and wet pet food is undergoing greater scrutiny to ensure its safety and efficacy. Spectroscopy discussed the topic with Lucy Semerjian, who works as a chair and associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health Science at the University of Sharjah in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates and was a lead author of a paper on the subject.

How can veterinary professionals and pet owners use the findings from this study to make more informed decisions about pet nutrition and health monitoring?

Veterinary professionals may integrate dietary exposure into their clinical assessments, adjust nutritional recommendations, guide pet owners to promote dietary rotation and diversification, advocate for screening for metal-related biomarkers in high-risk cases or when chronic exposure is suspected, and educate clients on reading pet food labels.

Pet owners may use mixed feeding strategies, rotating between protein sources and limiting use of organ-based treats like liver or fish meal, consult a veterinarian to choose diets tailored to their pet’s age, health status, and lifestyle, and monitor their pets for any subtle health changes.

Analyzing Bone Chemistry with LIBS

Jorge Caceres, a professor at Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, sat down with Spectroscopy to discuss how laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS) works as a fast, simple, cost-effective, and analytically conclusive technique for confidently re-associating human bone remains.

Could you elaborate on how LIBS reduces sample preparation time and complexity while maintaining analytical precision?

LIBS significantly reduces the time and complexity of sample preparation because it can analyze bone directly without requiring grinding, chemical digestion, dissolution, or reagents. The analysis is performed at the material's surface, and only gentle cleaning is needed to remove visible residues, avoiding lengthy procedures that could alter the elemental content.

This simplicity does not compromise accuracy because with a single laser pulse, LIBS generates a plasma containing all the atomic species present in the bone, producing a spectrum that acts as a complete fingerprint of its composition. The technique simultaneously captures major and trace elements, without the need for separation or differential preparation steps.

In addition, the acquisition of multiple spectra in seconds allows for the compensation of minor surface variations and the obtaining of representative profiles without adding operational complexity. In this way, the reduction in preparation does not affect analytical quality because accuracy stems from LIBS's intrinsic ability to directly measure the elemental composition of bone and the neural network's ability to correctly utilize the provided data.