About the Speaker

Andrea Wang is the co-founder and CEO of AHEAD Medicine Corporation, pioneering AI solutions in clinical flow cytometry. Her academic foundation in translational biology and molecular medicine from Baylor College of Medicine, coupled with extensive pharmaceutical industry experience at GlaxoSmithKline, Mundipharma, and Bayer Healthcare, provides her with unique insights into healthcare innovation.

Since co-founding the AHEAD research team in 2017, Andrea has established strategic partnerships with leading institutions including UPMC, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and BD Biosciences. Her team specializes in developing automated analysis solutions for complex flow cytometry data in hematological diseases. An International Innovator recognized by ISAC (2024), Andrea contributed to "Flow Cytometry Protocols, 5th Edition" and received the Taiwan AI Impact Award. She actively advances the field through her roles in the NIST Flow Cytometry Standards Consortium, co-leading CYTO Technology Showcase under ISAC's innovation committee, and developing the fcs4.0 data standard under ISAC’s data committee.

Webinar Summary

This webinar will provide an overview of artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and applications in flow cytometry data analysis. Participants will learn the foundational concepts of AI, understanding how ML functions as a subset of AI, and Deep Learning as a subset of ML. The session progresses from fundamental definitions to practical applications, covering key ML types including supervised, unsupervised, and reinforced learning approaches. Special emphasis is placed on the complete flow cytometry workflow, from data preprocessing and cleaning through cell classification and visualization. Real-world examples illustrate how these technologies enhance workflow efficiency and scalability in clinical flow cytometry laboratories. This overview is designed to equip attendees with practical knowledge for implementing AI solutions while maintaining high standards of flow cytometry data analysis.

Learning Objectives

1.Understand the definition and difference of AI and ML 

2.Understand how to evaluate AI model performance

3.Understand the type of AI and application examples

4.Understand future trends and challenges in the field

Who Should Attend

Clinical laboratory scientists and technologists, Flow cytometry specialists and operators, Clinical pathologists and hematologists, Biomedical researchers using flow cytometry, Laboratory directors and managers, Bioinformaticians and data analysts working with cytometry data, Medical technology students and residents, Healthcare professionals interested in AI applications in laboratory medicine.

CMLE Credit: 1.0

The Speakers

Andrea J. Radtke, Ph.D. - Principal Scientist, Spatial Biology - Leica Microsystems

Andrea J. Radtke, Ph.D. specializes in advanced microscopy techniques including IBEX, a multiplexed antibody-based imaging method she co-developed with her colleagues at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Radtke has used IBEX to create multi-omic atlases of normal and malignant human lymphoid organs for discovery and translational research. Dr. Radtke is passionate about open science and co-leads several community efforts within the field of spatial biology including the IBEX Imaging Community and Organ Mapping Antibody Panel initiative of the Human BioMolecular Atlas Program. Dr. Radtke serves as a Principal Scientist at Leica Microsystems, where she remains dedicated to advancing discovery through innovations in spatial biology.

Michael Smith, Ph.D. - Applications Manager - Leica Microsystems

Michael Smith, Ph.D. is Application Manager at Leica Microsystems. He completed a Ph.D. in the genetics of DNA repair at Columbia University and a postdoctoral fellowship in genome integrity and cellular aging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he leveraged microscopy to understand the real-time dynamics of DNA homeostasis. His passion for answering biological questions using imaging technologies led him to his current position, where he provides technical expertise and customer support for Leica’s line of spatial biology solutions.

Webinar Summary

Imaging-based spatial omics has enabled unprecedented characterization of cellular interactions and spatial relationships within tissues. Within the last decade, the field has seen a rapid expansion of spatial biology methods employing fluorescently conjugated probes to identify and localize a high number (>10) of proteins or RNA molecules in a single specimen. Recent advances, such as those seen in spectral cytometry and novel dye chemistries, now permit high-multiplex imaging in both 2D and 3D contexts. This webinar will highlight application areas of spectral imaging including 3D atlas construction and immunophenotyping of diverse tissues. Additionally, we will share foundational knowledge, practical tools, and key resources to empower the ISAC community to adopt cutting-edge spectral imaging in their research and core facilities.

Learning Objectives

1. Overview of multiplexed imaging: Participants will learn about common challenges and solutions for high-multiplex imaging.

2. Designing panels: Participants will gain insights into designing panels for 2D and 3D high-multiplex imaging using parallels from flow cytometry and domain specific knowledge related to spatial proteomics.

3. Selecting controls: Participants will learn how to design appropriate controls including single and group controls for spectral unmixing.

4. Advances in the field: Participants will learn about cutting-edge spectral unmixing technologies and AI-powered image analysis.  

Who Should Attend

This webinar is intended for all current and potential spatial biology enthusiasts (novice to expert) interested in performing high-multi-plex 2D and 3D imaging

CMLE Credit: 1.0

About the Speaker

Katharine Schwedhelm, is a research manager for the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) Endpoints laboratory at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA. She gained experience in flow cytometry and instrumentation at Benaroya Research Institute before moving to Fred Hutch, where her focus has been directed towards high parameter panel development to support HIV and COVID-19 vaccine studies and cytometer standardization and characterization. Katharine also supports the Cape Town HVTN laboratory, facilitating panel transfers and ensuring cross-lab assay and instrument concordance, and has been an instructor at the African Flow Cytometry Workshop.

Webinar Summary

Flow cytometry is a powerful tool for monitoring immune function. However, to be most effective, the instruments must be thoroughly characterized and standardized. At the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) cellular laboratory, our rigorous quality control procedure that ensures optimal instrument functioning and establishes standardized target MFI values results in interchangeable flow cytometers, minimization of batch-to-batch variation, and consistent and high-quality data. 

In response to efforts to combat the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic through a safe and efficacious vaccine, the HVTN/COVID-19 Prevention Trials Network (CoVPN) developed and validated a 27-color intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) flow cytometry assay to characterize antigen-specific T-cell responses to both SARS-CoV-2 natural infection and vaccine candidates. Five assay parameters were validated for Th1 and Th2 response: specificity, LOD/LLOQ, precision, linearity, and accuracy. Following submission to the FDA and several rounds of revisions, the assay received FDA approval. This achievement demonstrates the feasibility of a rigorous validation of a functional cellular assay and would not have been possible without quality-controlled instruments. While this staining panel was developed and validated in the context of COVID-19, the approach described here can be applied to other novel functional flow cytometric assays used to assess HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria in the context of infection and vaccination.

Learning Objectives

1. Flow cytometer characterization and standardization

2. Assay optimization for sensitive detection of key functional markers

3. Approach to functional flow cytometric assay validation for clinical trials.

Who Should Attend

Those interested in learning how to optimize and standardize BD flow cytometers. Personnel interested in flow cytometric assay validation for functional markers. 

CMLE Credit: 1.0

About the Speaker

David Hedley, MD - Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Senior Scientist, University of Toronto and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre

Dr. David Hedley is a physician/scientist, trained in medical oncology and wet lab research at the Royal Marsden Hospital, UK 1975-81. Attending physician in medical oncology and laboratory scientist, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital/Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Sydney, 1981-1989. Since 1990 he has held dual appointments at Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, as medical oncologist, specializing in breast and gastrointestinal cancers, and senior scientist with a laboratory program focused on cancer biology and experimental treatment. This laboratory program made extensive use of flow cytometry under my direct supervision, studying laboratory models of cancer, as well as interfacing to a large clinical trials program using novel analytical methods for patient monitoring.  

Contributions to Flow Cytometry

Member of ISAC since 1982, served on Council 1989-1992, chair of Site Selection Committee, Education and Scientific Advisory Committees. Cytometry Editorial Board 1986-2024. ISAC Fulwyler Awardee 2014 for innovative excellence.  Annual Flow Cytometry Methods Course faculty 1999-2019

Webinar Summary

This Webinar will discuss the application of flow cytometry to study dynamic processes that regulate cell function in health and disease. Major focus is on intracellular signaling and patient monitoring during treatment with targeted agents. Although emphasis is on cancer treatment, the Webinar also considers intracellular signaling pathways that regulate cytokine production in response to infectious agents. I will outline technical aspects of intracellular antigen measurements by flow cytometry, including a general approach to the study of dynamic post-translational modifications, experimental design, and integration into mechanism-based clinical trials of novel agents

Learning Objectives

1) How to do good quality intracellular staining while maintaining light scatter and surface antigens (not as difficult as you might think).
2)  The huge range of antibodies to structural and functional intracellular antigens, most of which have never been tested in flow.  Provided you have a clear question and trustworthy controls, they provide the opportunity for innovative research projects.
3) A general approach to the study of dynamic intracellular processes in live cells, using antibodies to posttranslational modifications such as phosphorylation. Emphasis on live cell function, including dose/response and time course studies. Analytical power when applied both to basic research projects, and to patient monitoring in clinical trials.

Who Should Attend

This webinar should be of broad interest both to the research and the clinical flow communities, especially the curiosity-driven, and to students and supervisors looking for innovative projects.  

CMLE Credit: 1.0

the Speakers

Joshua Welsh- Staff Scientist, BD Sciences and Director, the Measuring Stick, Ltd

Joshua Welsh, Ph.D., recently joined BD’s Advanced Technology Group as a Staff Scientist where he works on next-generation standardization. He earned his BSc (Hons) in Physiology with Pharmacology from the University of Leicester and completed his Ph.D. in Translational Medicine at the University of Southampton. Dr. Welsh continued his training at the National Institutes of Health, where he advanced to a Staff Scientist role in Dr. Jennifer Jones' Translational Nanobiology Section. Dr. Welsh led initiatives like MISEV2023 and MIFlowCyt-EV, served as a member-at-large on the board of ISEV, chaired the ISEV reference materials task force, and led the ISEV-ISAC-ISTH EV flow cytometry working group. He is also the developer of FCMPASS, an optimization, calibration, and reporting tool for small particle flow cytometry.

Vera Tang - Manager & Adjunct Professor, University of Ottawa

Vera Tang, Ph.D., is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa in Canada. She has been managing the uOttawa Flow Cytometry and Virometry Core Facility since 2013, where she helps to educate the next generation of researchers and provides consultation and research support to both academia and industry. Her work focuses on developing reference materials, workflows, and best practices recommendations for small particle analysis. Vera is an ISAC SRL Emerging Leader (2018-2023), ISAC Councilor (2024-2028), Vice President and past President of the Canadian Cytometry & Microscopy Association, and an Associate Editor of Cytometry, Part A. 

Webinar Summary

This workshop will build from basic principles of experimental setup to optimization and calibration of instruments, to providing resources and knowledge to perform advanced characterization methods for data analysis.

Learning Objectives

To gain understanding on how to characterize a flow cytometer’s potential for small particle detection.

Who Should Attend

This webinar is intended for all current and potential small particle enthusiasts (novice to expert) interested in performing small particle analysis.

CMLE Credit: 1.0

Authors

Kylie M. Price
Chief Technology Officer & Hugh Green Fellow
Hugh Green Technology Centre
The Malaghan Institute of Medical Research

Katharine A. (Kathy) Muirhead, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer, SciGro, Inc.

Paul K. Wallace, Ph.D.
CSO, SciGro, Inc., Southwest Office
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Professor Emeritus 

Lesson 3 describes the use of dye dilution to monitor cell division, with an emphasis on multicolor methods for detecting differential responses in complex cell populations without the need for manual isolation and counting.  

Module 3A, the first of four modules, focuses on: 

1. Principles and methods for using protein-reactive and/or membrane-intercalating dyes to determine the extent of cell division within a population of interest.
2. Similarities, differences, and considerations for selecting among commercially available proliferation tracking dyes.
3. Critical controls required when using dye dilution to monitor the extent of cell division. 

Anyone with a basic understanding of flow cytometry who is unfamiliar with (or wishes to review) dye dilution-based methods for monitoring cell proliferation by flow cytometry is encouraged to attend.

CMLE Credit: 1.0

About the Speaker

Jane Srivastava, Core Director for Flow Cytometry, Light Microscopy and Histology, J. David Gladstone Institutes

Originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, Jane Srivastava (she/her) completed her undergraduate studies in plant and microbial biology at the University of Canterbury. She worked as a lab technician before discovering flow cytometry in 2003 and has been in the industry ever since, working as a flow lab manager at Imperial College London and designing practical and theoretical flow courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Jane is now director of the Flow Cytometry Core at the Gladstone Institutes and has been a mentor for Gladstone’s PUMAS (Promoting Underrepresented Minority Advancement in the Sciences) summer internship program. In 2024, Jane took over the directorship of the Light Microscopy and Histology at Gladstone Institutes. Jane considers herself a career technician and is passionate about bringing recognition and support to those working in a scientific technical career

Webinar Summary

Although education methodology has advanced considerably form even a few years ago, there is still a general need to include equitable teaching practices in training sessions offered by shared resource facilities. Jane will summarize and give examples of these practices, from how to introduce feedback literacy for both students and staff, to how to utilize technological platforms to enhance student learning. 

Learning Objectives

Learn how to modify training to make it more inclusive.
Understand how equitable training practices lead to less repetition of key concepts and reduces staff burden

Who Should Attend

Anyone that is offering training to people using an SRL.

CMLE Credit: 1.0

About the Speaker

Adrian Liston, PhD - Professor of Pathology, University of Cambridge

Dr. Liston has extensively worked in the cellular control over immune/tolerance switches, and how molecular defects in these switches can lead to pathologies ranging from autoimmunity and primary immunology to diabetes and neuropathology. By researching a broad range of pathologies, and using both patient samples and animal models, Liston’s research is able to identifying the common cellular pathways to pathology. Liston has been awarded the Francqui Chair, the Eppendorf Prize and fellowship to the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society of Biology. Liston currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Immunology & Cell Biology.

Webinar Summary

The tissues are the site of many of the most important immunological reactions, yet the immunology of the tissues has remained relatively opaque. Recent studies have identified Foxp3+ regulatory T cells(Tregs) in several non-lymphoid tissues. These tissue-resident populations have been ascribed unique characteristics based on comparisons to lymphoid Tregs. To understand key aspects of this tissue Treg population, we need technological approaches thatare suitable for the assessment of low cell number sources with high dimensionality, such as flow cytometry, to be coupled with massively parallel screening technologies (e.g. CRISPR screens, TCR clonality screens). We modified the ProCodes technology into FlowCodes, a flow cytometry-based platform suitable for in vivo analysis. Using this system, we found that T cell receptors (TCRs) extracted from tissue Tregs conferred Treg fate and also multi-organ homing. These results demonstrate that tissue-resident Tregs are largely constituted by broadly self-reactive Tregs, characterized by transient multi-tissue migration and a common residency program.

Learning Objectives

Regulation of T cell mediated tolerance
Understanding tissue resident versus lymphoid origin regulatory T cells
Development and Utilization of FlowCodes: A flow cytometry-based platform suitable for in vivo analysis

Who Should Attend?

General interest to beginner and advanced flow cytometrists
SRL staff interested in development and implementation of multiplexing technology
Immunologists interested in T cell biology

CMLE Credit: 1.0

About the Speakers

Florian Mair - Scientific Director of Flow Cytometry Core Facility, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Florian is currently working as the Scientific Director of the Flow Cytometry Core Facility and Senior Scientist Immunology at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. After graduating with an MSc in Molecular Biology from the University of Vienna, he received his PhD in Molecular Life Sciences from the University of Zurich in 2014, and spent several years at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, USA. During the past decade, he has been involved extensively with different high-dimensional cytometry platforms as well as scRNA-sequencing techniques, including multi-omic methods. His main scientific interests are the function of dendritic cells and T cells in non-lymphoid tissues during health and disease, teaching best practices in cytometry and developing new flow cytometry panels and approaches.

Webinar Summary

To understand the function of the human immune system it is imperative to capture as much information as possible from often size-limited human samples. To do so, we have developed the first 50-color spectral flow cytometry panel to comprehensively study the functional state of the human immune system in PBMCs and tissue samples. The panel contains lineage markers for all major immune cell subsets, and an extensive set of phenotyping markers focused on the activation and differentiation status of the T cell and dendritic cell (DC) compartment. The panel has also been tested to be suitable for cell sorting, which allows very fine-grained isolation of immune subsets utilizing 50 markers at the same time. 

To establish such a complex panel, we utilized a new metric termed unmixing spreading error, that evaluates the fluorochrome-specific increase in background that is inherently generated when unmixing highly complex panels. In this presentation we show the systematic workflow we used to develop the panel, how we evaluated panel performance, and how OMIP-102 was developed to its final state.

Learning Objectives

Panel Design, Spreading Error, Unmixing, OMIP design

Who Should Attend

Everyone interested in high-dimensional flow cytometry panels and OMIP-102n

CMLE Credit: 1.0

Ziv Porat - Head of Flow Cytometry Unit, Life Sciences Core Facilities, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Ziv Porat obtained his PhD and post doctorate studies in Cell Biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Since 2011 he is part of the Weizmann Institute Flow Cytometry unit, and serves as head of the unit since 2018 as a Senior Staff Scientist.  He specializes in Imaging Flow Cytometry, and participated in more than 500 different projects utilizing this technology. He took part in more than 100 publications in this field, including development of novel Imaging Flow Cytometry applications. He participates and lectures in numerous international conferences, including the CYTO meetings since 2015, and he is part of the ISAC emerging leaders program (2019-2024). Dr. Porat is the organizer of the Israeli annual Imaging Flow Cytometry meetings since 2012. He is the co-founder of the Flow Cytometry Society of Israel (FCSI) and organizer of the Israeli flow cytometry conferences and workshops.

Mariela Bollati - Head Cell Biology Unit, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay

Since 2006, Dr Mariela Bollati-Fogolín has been working at the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay, as Head of the Cell Biology Unit (CBU). There, she has been instrumental in establishing a vibrant and internationally recognized flow cytometry and cell culture facility, one of the first of its kind in South America. Managing the CBU Shared Resource Laboratory and its staff, she provides support and assistance to research scientists and companies throughout the Latin American region. She has actively participated in organizing several hands-on flow cytometry workshops. She has served on the Council (2020-2023) of the Uruguayan-Argentine Flow Cytometry Society (GRCF). At present, she is the ISAC CYTO Women Taskforce chair and serves as the Uruguayan Deputy Director of the Latin American Center for Biotechnology

Webinar Summary

Drs. Mariela Bollati-Fogolín and Ziv Porat will co-present the upcoming webinar about developing and delivering an effective training program for Shared Resource Laboratories. This webinar will focus on how to teach users how to utilize flow cytometry equipment properly. By examining real-world case studies, the presenters will illustrate the potential pitfalls of allowing inexperienced individuals unsupervised access to cytometry equipment. Additionally, they will emphasize the critical role of a quality management system (QMS) in ensuring the success of any internal training program.

This webinar is the second installment in a three-part series dedicated to training resources. Last month's webinar, presented by Kathy Daniels and Derek Davies, explored external training solutions. The series will conclude in December with a presentation by Jane Srivastava on leveraging modern educational theories to create equitable training programs.

Learning Objectives

In this webinar the attendees will learn:
1- Two case studies to deliver an Internal Training Program
2- The importance of a good training and education for end users
3- The relevance of having a quality management system (QMS) for Internal Training Program

Who Should Attend

SRL managers, staff and users of shared resource laboratories. Users of flow cytometry technologies or anyone who is interested in flow cytometry education.

CMLE Credit: 1.0