Bioimage Analytics Workshop
Despite universities globally on a lockdown for the foreseeable future, Professors Joshua Milstein, Rodrigo Fernandez-Gonzalez and Jonathon Rocheleau remain resolute in hosting the annual ONEbiophysics conference.
Held at U of T Mississauga with an impressive participation rate since 2017, this year the organizers are taking it online and celebrating their three-year anniversary with a trio of keynotes on Thursday, June 18.
“We were going to hold the event at UTM as usual in June, and at first thought we would have to cancel given the situation, but ultimately we decided to scale it down and make it a virtual workshop with a focus on biological image analysis,” says Milstein, an associate professor and associate chair of research in UTM’s Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences.
“Our keynotes will be participating from the US, plus we will have room for a number of graduate student and postdoc talks.”
This year’s keynotes include Professors Susanne Rafelski, Deputy Director and Director, Assay Development from the Allen Institute in Seattle, Washington, Loïc Royer, Group Leader, Cell Atlas Initiative at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub in San Francisco, and David Van Valen, Assistant Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA.
The talks will include an interesting array of information from Rafelski as a cell biologist with expertise in bioimaging live cells and molecular genetics, Royer, who leads a lab that focuses on state-of-the art optics, microscopy and robotics, and Van Valen, whose research examines living systems, viruses and imaging as well as the application of machine learning to cell biology. The event is co-sponsored by UTM’s Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, as well as the Center for Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Engineering and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at UTSG.
Milstein says that “computation is increasingly an essential component of biological microscopy, and that methods such as automated clustering, computational microscopy, and bioimage analytics are driving the development of new imaging modalities. Across the imaging community the results range from improving the ability to count proteins and dissect genetic regulatory processes in cells to defining the connection of neural fibres.”
Recognizing the importance of this technology for people in the biophysical sciences has provided the impetus for Milstein, Fernandez-Gonzalez and Rocheleau to run the event in this new format.
“I think we have all been thrust into this odd situation where we are physically distanced from our colleagues, our students and classrooms, and our labs, but the need for science and discovery remains the same,” says Milstein.
“With this online format it is a good opportunity to reach people wherever they may be, and we hope to inspire our participants with the great talks planned and perhaps invigorate some new ideas going forward with our respective research programs.”
Anyone who registers in advance can attend, but graduate students and postdoctoral fellows can submit abstracts for consideration until May 29. Visit this website for more information and to register https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/cps/onebiophysics-2020.
Any related questions may be addressed to Professor Milstein at onebiophysics2020@gmail.com.
To see information and photos from the inaugural ONEBiophysics conference in 2017, go to https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/cps/news/one-biophysics-conference-big-success.