Biophysical Society Bulletin | January 2021

Obituary

Watt W. Webb 1927–2020

the environment. Webb and colleagues realized early on that fluorescence serves as an excellent marker for tracking the molecules moving in cells and measuring molecular signaling in cells and tissues, which led to subsequent work in micro- scopic imaging of biological systems. In the late 1980s, Webb and then-graduate student Winfried Denk , now a director at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobi- ology in Germany, invented multiphoton microscopy, which harnesses fluorescent markers deep in tissue for three-di- mensional imaging. The widely used technique produces high-resolution, 3D pictures with little damage to living cells by use of a laser that produces extremely short, intense puls- es, sending two or three photons to a precise depth within the tissue. Since patenting multiphoton microscopy, Webb worked to bring the technique to clinical diagnostics. He collaborated with doctors at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City to use multiphoton microscopy in both cancer diagnosis and surgery, and to image damaged nerves in the brain that occur with such neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Webb and colleagues also moved toward creat- ing “optical biopsies,” taking images of cells from deep within living animals without removing any tissue. In addition to his BPS awards, Webb was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences. He was a Guggenheim Fellow, a fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a founding fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, among other academic honors.

Watt W. Webb , a biophysicist who was known for his invention and development of imaging techniques, died at the age of 93. He was an emeritus professor at Cornell University. Webb was a Fellow of the Biophysical Society and selected as the 2002 BPS Lecturer, the highest honor the Society bestows. His presentation was titled “Multiphoton Imaging the Molec- ular Dynamics of Living.” Webb entered MIT at age 16 and received his bachelor’s de- gree in business and engineering administration. After gradu- ation he worked as an industrial engineer at Union Carbide. By attending night school, he completed a Sc.D. in materials science physics and mathematics, in 1955, also from MIT. In 1961 he joined the Cornell faculty as an associate professor of engineering physics. He was named professor of applied physics in 1965 and received the S.B. Eckert Professor in En- gineering title in 1998. Webb served as director of the School of Applied and Engineering Physics from 1983-88 and retired from Cornell in 2012. At Cornell, Webb teamed with undergraduate student Mal- colm Beasley , now an emeritus professor of applied physics at Stanford University, to develop the first stable superconduct- ing magnet. This contributed to the development of magnetic resonance imaging – as well as nuclear magnetic resonance and other modern imaging techniques. In 1969, Webb collaborated with Cornell chemistry professor Elliot Elson to invent fluorescence correlation spectrosco- py, a technique that provides information about molecular processes that control living cells and their interactions with

Important Dates Hamburg Early Registration Deadline February 8, 2021

Stockholm Abstract Deadline April 9, 2021 Stockholm Early Registration Deadline April 30, 2021 Society Awards Nominations End May 1, 2021

BPS Annual Meeting February 22–26, 2021 Biophysics Week March 22–26, 2021

January 2021

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