Life Sciences

The four sessions in ‘Frontiers in Bioimaging’ will cover the latest developments in imaging approaches and their applications, from custom built microscopes, to new methods for labelling and super-resolution microscopy. The talks will be organised into the four sessions below:

Bespoke light microscopy for molecular level imaging

Bespoke light microscopy for molecular level imaging is an exciting session in Frontiers of Bioimaging which brings together developers and users of cutting-edge light microscopy techniques which are not available to purchase through mainstream commercial microscopy manufacturers currently. Many of these techniques enable faithful detection of single molecules at challenging low levels of signal compared to the background noise in samples. Speakers in this session demonstrate a wide range of exemplars of these methods and give us a glimpse of what innovative applications might be available to mainstream users in the future. A must see!

Session Chair: Mark Leake, York University, UK
Co-Chair: Philipp Kukura, Oxford University, UK
Invited Speaker: Seamus Holden,Newcastle University, UK

Developing super-resolution methods for functional insight

Super-resolution microscopy is beginning to become a widely-adapted approach for imaging a wide range of samples. In this session we will focus on the types of super-resolution approaches used to gain functional insight – how imaging in fine detail provides us with a new understanding of biological questions, and how we can optimise these methods to answer key biological questions.

Session Chair: Michelle Peckham, King’s College London, UK
Invited Speaker: Olivier Rossier,University of Bordeaux, France

Advanced light imaging for addressing longer length scale biological questions

There has been considerable focus recently on the ability of light microscopy to image at short lengthscales. However, understanding biological processes also requires the ability to image across long lengthscales, in both space and time. This session will explore the new techniques being developed to explore these regimes.

Session Chair: Susan Cox, King’s College London, UK
Co-Chair: Steven Lee, University of Cambridge, UK
Invited Speaker: Jae-Byum Chang,MIT, USA

Advances in labelling for super-resolution microscopy

This session will cover progress in several aspects of fluorescence labelling for super-resolution microscopy, such as novel photoswitchable dyes and fluorescent proteins, photophysical and photochemical studies of fluorophores, improved targeting strategies, or methods to characterize labelling quality.

Session Chair: Jan Faix, Hannover Medical School, Germany
Co-Chair and Invited Speaker: Cristina Flors, IMDEA, Spain
Invited Speaker: Helge Ewers, Freie University, Germany

Session Chair: Claire Wells, King's College London, UK
Co-Chair and Invited Speaker: Kurt Anderson, Francis Crick Institute, UK
Invited Speaker: Chris Contag, Stanford Medicine University,USA

Imaging tumour cells in fixed samples, complex matrix and living tissue is transforming our view of cancer. This session aims to highlight the latest developments in cancer imaging. Contributions to this symposium are solicited from any area of research where imaging techniques are being applied to the study of cancer biology.

Session Chair: Theresa Ward,London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK

Co-Chair and Invited Speaker: Brian Stramer, KCL, UK

Invited Speaker: Enrico Coen, John Innes Centre, UK

Imaging cells within more complex 3D micro environments is an exciting field of cell biology. This session will showcase both technical developments at high resolution and novel applications enabling insight into cell behaviour in a physiological context. Contributions to this session are solicited from any area of research, plant, human or animal, where 3D imaging techniques are being applied.

Session Chairs: Nick Read, Manchester University, UK and Morgan Beeby, Imperial College, UK

Co-Chairs and Invited Speakers: Mark Fricker, University of Oxford,UK and Ariane Briegel, Leiden University, Netherlands

Invited Speakers: Cecile Morlot, University of Grenoble, France and Keith Gull, University of Oxford, UK

This session has combined with the Bio Applications: Bacterial Ultrastructure Session.

It goes without saying that microscopy has had a profound impact on microbiology over the last few centuries. The ongoing development of new microscope technologies and the combined use of different types of microscopy with a wide range of other powerful experimental approaches continues to provide exciting opportunities to address novel and important questions relating to basic and applied aspects of microbiology. The purpose of this symposium is to provide examples of some of the latest innovations in microbial imaging and analysis and show how advanced microscopic techniques are continuing to provide far-reaching insights into the biology of microbes.

Session Chair: Steven Briddon, Nottingham University, UK

Co-Chair and Invited Speaker: Maddy Parsons, King's College London

Invited Speaker: Carsten Hoffman, University of Wurzburg, Germany

The precise co-ordination of specific subcellular molecular interactions is fundamental in defining the behaviour and survival of all cells. Capturing and quantifying such dynamic associations between proteins,peptides, lipids and DNA in live cells requires the application of a range of advanced imaging methods. Recent advances in techniques such as Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS),correlation analysis (IC(C)S) and single particle tracking (SPT) have transformed quantitative biology and provided robust means to interrogate spatiotemporal changes in molecular interactions. This session welcomes studies using advanced or novel techniques in this area, particularly those targeted to living cells.

Session Chair: George Littlejohn, University of Exeter, UK
Co-Chair and Invited Speaker: Jon Girkin, University of Durham, UK

Minimallyinvasive live cell imaging in tissues is challenging, both optically andin terms of maintenance of specimen physiological integrity. Single PlaneIllumination Microscopy(SPIM) is being applied successfully in plant and animalsystems and allows researchers to address these limitations to agreater or lesser extent but also brings its own challenges, particularlyin terms of data storage and analysis. This general live cellSPIM session will focus on the application of live cell microscopy techniquesusing plants as a great exemplar that is also relevant to many other sampletypes and will discuss associated image analysis and data capture.

Session Chair: Roland Fleck, King's College London, UK

Co-Chair and Invited Speaker: Bruno Humbel, UNIL, Switzerland

Invited Speaker: Andres Käch, University of Zurich, Switzerland

A specialist session addressing the critical first step in any successful biological electron microscopy study, the preparation of the tissue itself. The session will consider all processing steps from pre-culture of cells and tissues, fixation, labelling and sectioning for scanning and transmission electron microscopy through to imaging the sample itself.

Both room temperature and cryo-electron microscopy sample preparation techniques will be considered focusing on (but not limited to) improving ultrastructural preservation of tissue, how to improve sample processing to support novel imaging methods (e.g., STEM), improved sample stability in the electron microscope (either scanning or transmission electron microscopy), technical innovations able to improve sample quality and/ or reproducibility, preparation of specimens for specialist techniques (e.g, EELS, EDX, CLEM etc).

The session chairs will encourage active discussion during the session.

Session Chair: Erin Tranfield, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Portugal

Co-Chair and Invited Speaker: Stefanie Redemann, Medical Theoretical Centre, Germany

Invited Speaker: Johanna Höög, University of Gothenburg,Sweden

The focus of this session will be the use of electron tomography on plastic-embedded samples and vitreous samples to study structural questions in the biological sciences.

Session Chair: Richard Grenfell, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, UK

Co-Chair: Andy Filby, University of Newcastle
Invited Speaker: Gareth Howell, Manchester CollaborativeCentre for Inflammation Research (MCCIR), The University of Manchester

Session Chair: Peter Rosenthal, The Francis Crick Institute, UK

Co-Chair: Carolyn Moore, Birbeck College, UK

Recent progress in methods for electron cryomicroscopy has brought an explosion of new results on biological specimens. This session will present new structural studies of macromolecular assemblies, but will also highlight method developments that will improve and expand the scope of cryomicroscopy.

Session Chair: Lucy Collinson, The Francis CrickInstitute, UK

Co-Chair and Invited Speaker: Saskia Lippens, University of Gent, Belgium

Invited Speaker: Rick Webb, University of Brisbane, Australia

Technologies for gathering high resolution three dimensional images from biological samples are now well-established.Serial Electron Tomography, Serial Block Face Scanning EM, Focused Ion Beam Scanning EM and Array Tomography are revealing new insights into neurobiology,developmental biology, cell biology, plant biology, cancer biology, infection and immunity, microbiology and more. This session will look at application-focused outputs of these exciting microscopical advances, whilst also considering associated sample handling, technological and big data challenges.

Session Chair: Paul Verkade, University of Bristol, UK

Co-Chair and Invited Speaker: Yannick Schwab, EMBL, Germany

Invited Speaker: Errin Johnson, Oxford University, UK

Extracting a variety of data sets from a single sample using different imaging modalities can give much more information than when each modality is used in isolation. This set up of combining technologies to perform Correlative Microscopy (CM) is however not always trivial and there is now a wealth of techniques developed and under development to achieve this. Although Correlative Light Electron Microscopy (CLEM) is by far the best established correlative technique there are a number of exciting new imaging / analysis modalities integrated into CM workflows. In this session we want to highlight both the application of CM technology to answer biological questions as well as the latest developments with regards to for instance probes, processing, and /or analysis for Correlative Microscopy experiments.

Session Chair: Miep Helfrich, The University of Aberdeen, UK
Co-Chair and Invited Speaker: Paul Delgarno, Heriot Watt University, UK
Invited Speaker: Jeremy Simpson, UCD Dublin, Ireland

The Celtic sessions, will be chaired by the Microscopy Society of Ireland and the Scottish Microscopy Group.
mmc2017 will bring together both societies for a session featuring research in the life sciences and material sciences.
Invited talks by members of both societies will be complemented by short presentations selected from submitted abstracts. The MSI and SMG hope to see not only members of their societies at the session, but also those who want to find out more about the work done by their members using the fabulous range of microscope facilities available in Ireland and Scotland.

Session Chair: Pippa Hawes, Pirbright Institute, UK

Co-Chair: Spencer Shorte, Pasteur Institute, France
Invited Speaker: Benoit Marteyn, Pasteur Institute, France
Invited Speaker: Jake Baum, Imperial College London, UK

Recent advances in imaging technology have given researchers the freedom to investigate host-pathogen interactions in novel and imaginative ways. The development of new reagents for the study of cell biology has produced exciting results and cemented microscopy as one of the most important techniques in the study of pathogens, both in vitro and in vivo. The purpose of this symposium to showcase state-of-the-art microscopical techniques currently being used in the study of pathogen structure, entry, replication, egress and spread.