These two remarkable photographs are separated by nearly 18 years. The first was taken in early 2007 at the Biomedical Optics (BiOS-2007) SPIE Student Luncheon Meeting in California, USA. The second was captured at the end of 2024 at the 17th International Conference on Photonics and Imaging in Biology and Medicine (PIBM-2024) in Hainan, China. Astonishingly, both images feature the same individuals: Professor Lihong Wang and Pavel Subochev.
In the first photograph, Pavel Subochev is still a master’s student encountering Photoacoustics for the very first time. By the time of the second photograph, he has risen to become the head of the Photoacoustic Laboratory.
Even more remarkable is that both photographs were taken by the same person—Professor Valery Victorovich Tuchin. It was indeed Prof. Valery Tuchin who first introduced Pavel to Prof. Lihong Wang and the exciting field of Photoacoustics during that SPIE Student Luncheon Meeting in 2007. Since then, Pavel has dedicated his career to Photoacoustics, recently achieving his first publication in Nature Group.
These images are not only a testament to lasting mentorship and collaboration but also celebrate the extraordinary journey and growth within the vibrant Photoacoustics research community.
