Since 1994, the Optical Society of America has been organizing biennial topical meetings in the field of biomedical optics. These BIOMED conferences address the forefront research and development areas in the biomedical sciences ranging from molecular level progress in our understanding of bio-processes, to new and improved advances in instrumentation, to state-of-the-art techniques to diagnose and treat diseases. The papers published in this feature issue of Biomedical Optics Express cover a representative cross section of research presented at this year’s BIOMED meeting [1], held in Miami, FL, from 26–30 April 2014.

The meeting covered plenary, invited and contributed talks, as well as posters in the following topical categories: (1) Biophysics, Biology and Biophotonics: the Crossroads; (2) BioNanophotonic and Molecular Probes; (3) Optical Microscopy: Techniques and Applications; (4) Photoacoustic Imaging and Spectroscopy; (5) Optical Coherence Tomography with Applications; (6) Optical Imaging and Tomography with Applications; and (7) Optical Spectroscopy with Applications. The conference was organized by the Conference Chairs Dr. Vadim Backman (USA) and Dr. Stefan Andersson-Engels (Sweden), and Vice Conference Chairs Dr. Stephen Boppart (USA) and Dr. Christoph Hitzenberger (Austria).

The editors of this feature issue and organizers of the conference would like to take the opportunity to thank the authors and the reviewers for their contributions to this feature issue, as well as the presenters and attendees of the conference for their scientific presentations and discussions which were essential for the scientific success of BIOMED 2014.

Finally, the organizers are pleased to announce that the next conference in this series, BIOMED 2016, will be held at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, FL (Ft. Lauderdale Area), from 24–28 April 2016.