Dr Laki Pantazis receives 2025 RMS Scientific Achievement Award

We are delighted to announce Dr Periklis (Laki) Pantazis as a winner of the RMS Scientific Achievement Award 2025.

Laki is a pioneering microscopist at Imperial College London whose work has fundamentally reshaped how we visualise and interpret dynamic biological processes. His innovations, spanning photophysics, molecular biology and translational imaging, have enabled unprecedented insights into development, disease progression and mechanobiology.

Laki’s signature inventions — GenEPi (a genetically encoded fluorescent reporter of  mechanical stimulation), primed conversion (a photon-efficient method for precise cell and lineage tracking), and bioharmonophores (biodegradable nanoparticles for deep-tissue harmonic imaging) — represent major advances in live-cell and deep-tissue imaging.

As founding Director of the Imperial–Leica Imaging Hub, Laki established a multidisciplinary centre of excellence that facilitates collaborative research across biology, engineering and medicine. Under his leadership, the Hub has become a beacon of translational imaging science, supporting both early-career investigators and large-scale institutional initiatives.

He has secured over £7.1 million in research funding from prestigious agencies of various countries. He holds 13 patents, including co-developments with leading microscopy companies, demonstrating his ability to move ideas from concept to industrial application.

Laki’s trainees have gone on to receive significant honours, reflecting his dedication to mentorship and academic citizenship. He regularly serves on editorial boards, grant panels and international symposia, amplifying his influence on the field’s future direction.

As a scientist, mentor and collaborator, he represents the very best of the international imaging community.