Re: Janelia conference for imaging cores - some pointers

Posted by Alison J. North on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Janelia-conference-for-imaging-cores-some-pointers-tp7587488p7587511.html

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Dear Kate,

I think you have raised a number of excellent suggestions here.
Regarding your last one in particular, I feel the need to point out that
we in the USA are WAY behind many other countries in the area of
networking, particularly when it comes to sharing equipment.  I don't
know whether you are familiar with the Euro-BioImaging project:

http://www.eurobioimaging.eu/

but this is a very interesting and laudable attempt to solve exactly the
problem you refer to in accessing uncommon equipment.  Many of the
European countries (also, I believe, Australia) have also established
their own country-wide networks, long before the Euro-BioImaging network
was established.  These matters are discussed every year at the
wonderful ELMI meeting (European Light Microscopy Initiative), which, in
my opinion, is the most useful meeting out there for microscopy facility
managers.  (Also jolly good fun and held in a fantastic location every
year - thank you ELMI meeting organisers past and present!)  Personally,
I would like to see a similar network established in the USA, but the
sheer enormity of this task is rather daunting.  Maybe we could first
approach it on a state or regional level?  This is certainly something
worth discussing.

All the best,
Alison


On 11/1/2017 2:00 PM, Kate Luby-Phelps wrote:

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> I had not really thought much about networking with other core facilities until I saw the announcement of the conference. For me, the confocal listserv essentially fills this niche as we get to pick each others’ brains. However, in thinking about it more, it seems to me there are several ways in which a formal networking effort might be helpful: 1) Since all cores large and small will share some of the same challenges, perhaps identification of these areas and formation of focused subnetworks or topical working groups could be useful. For example, I have made some stabs at solving the need for deconvolution of large volumes from slide scanners and tiled confocal z stacks but have not had the time or the resources to pursue this to an endpoint. If others are in the same boat, perhaps we each have different pieces of the puzzle and sharing them could speed up the process of eliminating what doesn’t work or at least defining what the roadblocks are and then having group members take on well-defined, manageable tasks to try to move things forward for everyone. As already mentioned, another example of a challenge we all face is finding money to replace aging instrumentation and to acquire cutting edge technology. Here a network for mentoring people who want to apply for S10 grants could be helpful. A third possibility is a network that could serve as a consortium for sharing of resources. For software, this is not too difficult, as witnessed by the success of ImageJ/FiJi and CellProfiler. Would it be possible to facilitate access to instrumentation as well? For example, if I have an occasional need for STED but do not own one and do not have a large enough user group to apply for an S10, can I locate a facility that has it and somehow arrange to have my sample viewed? I realize this idea raises all kinds of logistical issues, including recharge costs, travel costs, shipping of samples, etc., but perhaps its feasibility is worth discussing.
>
> A conference that attempts to promote and formalize these types of interactions would be worth attending.
>
> Kate Luby-Phelps
> Director, Live Cell Imaging Facility and Electron Microscopy Core Facility
> UT Southwestern Medical Center
> Dallas, TX

--
Alison J. North, Ph.D.,
Research Associate Professor and
Senior Director of the Bio-Imaging Resource Center,
The Rockefeller University,
1230 York Avenue,
New York,
NY 10065.
Tel: office ++ 212 327 7488
Tel: lab     ++ 212 327 7486
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