CYTO Virtual Interactive 2021 Scientific Tutorial - Virtual Training Strategies for an SRL

Overview

Education and training of researchers is one of the most important services provided by Shared Resource Laboratories (SRLs). As a response to the current global pandemic, many SRLs have been forced to shut down operations or enforce social distancing policies which have severely limited traditional training approaches. Education and training has been changing over the last few years and SRLs have had to adapt to different modes of delivering education, training, and on-going support. In this tutorial we will review workflows and best practices needed to successfully carry out remote theoretical and hands on training. This will include an overview of remote access tools, available technologies to implement these trainings, metrics that allow assessment of success, and best approaches to keep trainees engaged. We will also discuss the challenges that come with the transition to virtual training approaches, practical solutions to address them and how the training landscape might change in the coming years.

Speakers

Kathy Daniels
Manager, Flow Cytometry Core Facility
Whitehead Institute
Cambridge, MA

Kathy currently serves as the manager of the Flow Cytometry Core Facility at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, MA. She has been working in flow cytometry for the past 8 years and is actively involved with the local and international cytometry community. Her goal is to empower researchers through a better understanding of the technology while providing increased open access educational resources to cytometrists worldwide. Kathy is currently the Vice President of MetroFlow and an ISAC SRL Emerging Leader.

Rui Gardner, PhD
Lead, Flow Cytometry Core Facility
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York

Rui started his career in science as a mathematical biologist, working in the lab of Dr. Michael Savageau at the University of Michigan, work that led to his PhD in Biomedicine in 2004 for the University of Porto in Portugal. In 2007, he became Head of the Flow Cytometry Core Facility at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência in Portugal. Serving more than 40 research groups in many diverse fields including immunology, inflammation, stem-cell biology, microbiology, virology, plant biology, among others, gave him a comprehensive experience in many flow cytometry techniques. In 2016 he was hired to lead the Flow Cytometry Core Facility at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Passionate about science and technology, his background in mathematics, physics, and biology has allowed him to bridge the gap between the operational and technical details in flow cytometry and the science within flow applications. For the past 15 years, he has lectured countless courses in flow cytometry and cell sorting around the world, as well as been involved in organizing various international and regional workshops or scientific meetings on flow cytometry and core management both in Europe and the US. As councilor for the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry from 2012-2016 and the Iberian Cytometry Society (SIC) from 2015-2017, he has served on many committees and led the efforts to introduce the first ISAC SRL leadership programs that have benefited many young leaders of our community. 

Derek Davies
STP Training Lead
Francis Crick Institute
London, UK

Derek is the Science Technology Platform (STP) training lead at the Francis Crick Institute in London. He began his career in cytometry in 1980 using a microdensitometer to measure DNA content in cells, before moving into flow cytometry in 1985. For many years he ran the core flow facility at the London Research Institute and latterly the Francis Crick Institute looking after 30 cytometers and overseeing a staff of 12. In all that time, he has been actively involved in teaching on local, national, and international courses on all aspects of cytometry, including analysis and cell sorting. His current role is centered around standardizing training delivery within STPs and also developing training materials to develop competence and capability in cytometry and other technologies to the wider scientific community. He is chair of flowcytometryUK, sits on the Flow Cytometry Committee of the Royal Microscopical Society and is a former ISAC Councilor (2010-2014).

CMLE Credit: 1.0