Aydogan Ozcan
PopTech 2009
Head of the Bio- and Nano-Photonics Laboratory at UCLA since 2007, Aydogan Ozcan is developing a device to detect infectious diseases using a cellphone. This technology has the potential to transform the delivery of medical services to the world’s poorest populations. “If you look at the statistics of how cellphones are being used…it’s an amazing story to find that more than 20% of the population in Africa, in India, in Brazil—they carry cellphones.” It is Ozcan’s innovation to wed this fact with the latest in optics technology, and potentially make great waves in global public health.