Women Advancing Lab Research & Science Outreach: A CYTO Women Webinar Series

THE SPEAKER

Kathy Daniels Kluepfel - Associate Director, Research Flow Cytometry Core Facility, Moderna Therapeutics

Kathy Daniels-Kluepfel, SCYM (ASCP) CM, is the Associate Director of the Flow Cytometry Core Facility at Moderna Therapeutics, where she leads strategic and operational initiatives supporting high-impact research and translational programs. With over a decade of experience in academic and biotechnology settings, she specializes in assay development, high-parameter panel design, and advancing best practices in shared resource laboratories.

Kathy is a passionate advocate for cytometry education and open-access learning. She is a co-founder of the OpenFlow Cytometry open-access educational series and co-developer of the Flow Post-it Program in collaboration with leadership at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). She previously served as Vice President of MetroFlow and is a graduate of the ISAC Shared Resource Laboratory (SRL) Emerging Leaders program, reflecting her longstanding commitment to leadership, mentorship, and global community engagement in cytometry.

Uttara Chakraborty - Assistant Professor, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Manipal Academy of Higher Education Bangalore, India

Uttara Chakraborty Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor in the Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine (MIRM), under Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Bangalore in Karnataka, India. She established the Stem Cell Cytometry and Imaging laboratory at MIRM, which is committed towards interdisciplinary research where she uses human stem cells as research models integrating the concepts of computational biology, molecular mycology and clinical research to understand the potential of these cells in immunotherapy. She works on developing protocols and SOPs for best practices in shared resource laboratories of Flow cytometry, Cell sorting and Cell imaging in association with the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC). While working as the Senior Research Scientist in the Division of Biology, Flow Cytometry and Confocal Microscopy core facilities in the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, she was selected by the ISAC Shared Resource Laboratory (SRL) Emerging Leader Committee as an ISAC SRL Emerging Leader in 2018, the only representative from India to join this distinguished group of leaders in cytometry. She worked with the sub-committees of ISAC, one for the ISAC Recognition programme and the other for outreach in which she works for the ISAC SRL Newsletters. She has participated in several CYTO meetings since 2018 and presented her work through posters and oral presentations and conducted workshops in collaboration with other global leaders in the community. As a faculty in MIRM, she received several research grants to establish her laboratory. Apart from academic grants, Uttara has received the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) BIRAC Amrit Grand Challenges “JanCare” award in 2022, for “Developing a diagnostic tool using real time single cell imaging and machine learning for detection of Acute Leukemias in India”. This was part of her industry start-up plan in collaboration with industry partners and the Manipal Institute of Technology towards developing software to annotate image data from single cell images of stem cells. Her research interest lies in understanding the morphometric and immunophenotypic heterogeneity in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). She is also exploring the infection crosstalk between hMSCs as hosts against bacterial and fungal pathogens. Recently, her passion has been to develop protocols to use label-free detection approach to understand Raman Spectral signatures for classification of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) malignancies in Indian patients. Currently Uttara uses her scientific engagements and leadership skills to mentor students and work towards training the next-generation leaders in cytometry from India.

WEBINAR SUMMARY

CYTO Women is proud to present this webinar as part of the **CYTO Women Webinar Series on CYTO U**, highlighting the leadership, innovation, and outreach efforts of women advancing cytometry and shared resource laboratories around the world. This session brings together two accomplished scientists who will share their professional journeys and insights into building impactful research programs, fostering scientific communities, and expanding access to cytometry education and resources.

Dr. Kathy Daniels-Kluepfel will share insights from her experience advancing research within Shared Resource Laboratories (SRLs). Drawing from her leadership in core operations, assay development, and high-parameter cytometry, Kathy will discuss the critical role that shared resource laboratories play in accelerating scientific discovery across research institutions. She will also highlight the importance of open-access education and community-driven outreach, reflecting on her work as co-founder of the OpenFlow Cytometry educational series, co-developer of the Flow Post-it Program in collaboration with leadership at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and her involvement with MetroFlow and the ISAC SRL Emerging Leaders program. Her session will explore how intentional leadership, mentorship, and education can expand access to advanced technologies, strengthen scientific communities, and empower the next generation of cytometrists.

Dr. Uttara Chakraborty will share her professional journey, beginning with her foundational training in molecular mycology and mycotechnology and evolving into leadership in cytometry and shared resource laboratories. Following her post-doctoral research, she joined an instrumentation facility—later renamed a Core Facility—at a time when the concept of Shared Resource Laboratories was just beginning to emerge within the Indian scientific research community. She will describe how her experiences with SRLs, along with her involvement in the ISAC Live Education Task Force in India, transformed her perspective on collaborative science and technology access. Motivated to promote the SRL model in India, she became actively involved in the Cytometry Society of India and the Immunology Society of India, advocating for the importance of shared research infrastructure. Her talk will explore her leadership of the Cytometry Core Facility at a premier research institute in India and her transition into mainstream research through the Stem Cell Cytometry and Imaging Laboratory at MIRM. Through reflections on her roles as a faculty member, facility director, mentor, and educator, she will discuss how she balances leadership and research while championing cytometry education and inspiring the next generation of scientists.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the pivotal role of SRLs in accelerating institutional research.
2. Explore successful models for open-access science education and community outreach.
3. Learn strategies for balancing academic faculty roles with core facility leadership.
4. Identify pathways for mentorship and advocacy to empower the next generation of researchers.

Who Should Attend:
Educators/Trainers, Research Scientists, Shared Resource Laboratory (SRL) Managers, Share Resource Laboratory (SRL) Staff, Trainees (graduate students, postdocs, early-career researchers)

Keywords: Women, Education, Management, Mentorship

CMLE Credit: 1.0