Microscopic Image Analysis with Applications inBiology (MIAAB), September 3-4

[Stephen Lockett]

Microscopic Image Analysis with Applications in Biology  (MIAAB)
Lister Hill Center Auditorium,  NIH Campus,  Bethesda, MD
September 3-4, 2009

General Chairs:
Dimitris M. Metaxas (Rutgers U)
Terry Yoo (NIH, NLM)
Program Chairs:
Jens Rittscher (GE Global Research)
Tolga Tasdizien (Utah)
Session Chairs:
Stephen Lockett (NIH, NCI Frederic )
Raghu Machiraju (The Ohio State University)
Karl Rohr (German Cancer Research Center, Univ. of Heidelberg)
Pavel Tomancek (MPI Cell Biology, Dresden, Germany)

Goals and Objectives -
The goal of this workshop is to bring together researchers that work on the emerging interface of engineering and biological research.  The convergence of technical developments that enable automated microscopy imaging at higher resolution and throughput and life sciences applications that require the analysis of a very large number of samples radically changes the traditional role of  microscopy. As opposed to analyzing a very limited number of samples manually, it is now possible to automatically analyze a large number of biological samples at the cellular and sub-cellular scale and monitor their dynamics over time. Not only will this approach provide biologists with an unprecedented amount of quantitative information, it will also allow the investigation of the inherent variation of biological systems of interest. 

Algorithms that allow the automatic analysis of such data sets are becoming a crucial component of microscopy workflow. These datasets pose a number of challenges that are very distinct from conventional clinical imagery in their size and abundance, the detail of relevant features, and their statistics. Sophisticated algorithms are necessary to process such imagery and extract biologically relevant features and information.

While certain applications of high-throughput microscopy of very simple biological model systems are already established, biologists are still exploring the potential of this automated approach. The study of complex model systems, the analysis of whole organisms of small critters, and in-vivo models will pose novel challenges that need to be addressed. The challenges increase  many-fold when animal systems for disease and cancer are considered.

The proposed workshop will be the third workshop in this series. The first workshop was held as a MICCAI workshop in Copenhagen in 2006. In 2007 the workshop was held as an independent one-day event in Piscataway, NJ.  Lastly, a one-day workshop was held in conjunction with MICCAI 2008 in New York City last year.

Topics:
To facilitate this exchange the workshop will focus on a set of biological applications and image analysis challenges. In particular we are seeking contributions in the following areas:
Segmentation and feature extraction at cellular and sub-cellular scales
Automatic analysis of dynamic processes in in vivo  and model systems
Analysis of tissue structure and their representation (micro-vasculature, tracking of neurons, identification of cell populations, etc.)
Reconstruction of cell morphologies and lineage studies
Whole critter imaging (zebrafish, c. elegans, drosophila)

Focus areas for biological applications will include but are not limited to
Understanding the heterogeneity of cancer and its environment
Understanding neuro-anatomy at the cellular level
Biomarker discovery
 
Workshop Schedule:
We propose a one-day event, which will include orals and one poster session. The workshop will be structured into different sessions, which will alternate between image analysis challenges and biological application areas. At least one presentation in each session will give an introduction or tutorial overview with the goal of communicating the existing capabilities and challenges to non-specialists. A panel discussion on the future of automated microscopy and its role for biological research will be organized as part of this workshop.

Paper and Abstract Submission:
Contributions, which address an image analysis challenge, will submit a full paper (up to 10 pages, IEEE format). In order to encourage the participation of biologists we have established a separate abstract submission format that focuses on the presentation of application problems, as is common for biology conferences. Papers that describe how particular biological research or related needs was impacted by image analysis can submit a full paper or an abstract. Every paper will receive three reviews. Review formats for abstracts and full papers will be different. Extended version of selected contributions will be published as a volume in the Springer Lecture Notes of Computer Science. 

Important Dates:
June 27, 2009 - Submission of Full Papers and Application Abstracts
July  27, 2009 - Notification of Paper Acceptances
August 17, 2009 - Submission of Final manuscript

Contact Information:
            Jens Rittscher
            GE Global Research
            Visualization and Computer Vision Lab
            KW C 214
            Niskayuna, NY, 12309
           Tel [phone]
            Fax [phone]
            Email [hidden email]

Tolga Tasdizen
72 S Central Campus Drive, 3750 WEB
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [hidden email]

More information about the workshop will announced at the Symposium web site (http://www.miaab.org)  periodically. Please check for further updates.

Stephen Lockett, Ph.D.,
Principal Scientist,
Head, Optical Microscopy and Analysis Laboratory,
Rm 104A, Building 538,
P.O. Box B
(For Fedex, use Building 1050, Boyles Street)
National Cancer Institute - Frederick / SAIC - Frederick,
Fort Detrick,
Frederick,
MD 21702, USA
Office: 301 846 5515
Mobile: [phone]