Ruikang (Ricky) Wang, professor of Bioengineering and the George And Martina Kren Endowed Chair In Ophthalmology Research, has been awarded the 2025 SPIE Britton Chance Award in Biomedical Optics. The honor—conferred by the international society for optics and photonics (SPIE)—recognizes his transformative contributions to optical imaging, including the development of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). This non-invasive technology enables detailed 3D imaging of blood flow and has revolutionized ophthalmology by aiding in the early detection and treatment of numerous eye diseases.
Beyond ophthalmology, Wang’s innovations have been applied to studying blood flow in the brain, ears, skin and mouth. His lab also works on making healthcare more accessible—including creating smartphone-based imaging systems to help close gaps in medical care for individuals in rural settings or with limited resources.
As a SPIE Fellow, Wang has been an active member of the society, presenting his research at conferences and publishing in leading journals. The Britton Chance Award celebrates his decades of groundbreaking research and its real-world impacts on human health.
Wang’s contributions to the fields of biomedicine and ophthalmology have also been recognized with the 2023 UW Medicine Inventor of the Year Award and induction into the Washington State Academy of Sciences, among other honors.
To learn more about Wang’s research and the Britton Chance Award, read the article on the SPIE website.