mmc2019 Conference Sessions
The conference at mmc2019 consisted of six parallel streams comprising 36 sessions, with excellent speakers and vibrant supporting poster sessions.
The conference sessions are listed below, for more information on our Invited Speakers please click on their name.
Scottish Microscopy Society (SMG) & Microscopy Society of Ireland (MSI) Sessions
SMG & MSI: Applications of super-resolution from the nano to the atomic scale
Session Chair: Charlotte Buckley (University of Strathclyde, UK)
All microscopy techniques come with their caveats; bleaching due to powerful lasers, cytotoxic effects, sample deformation due to sample prep or acquisition method. However many of these caveats can be transformed into an advantage to better resolve structure in both biological and non-biological materials. Some great examples of this include the use of: mechanical probes to examine the structure of small and soft natural polyhedral structures called Clathrin in AFM, highly powerful lasers to bypass resolution and reveal structure in super-resolution microscopies such as STED and RESOLFT as well as electron-beam probe effects in Electron Microscopy techniques. In this session we will hear more about these techniques and learn how accessible they are for you in your research.
SMG & MSI: Trials and Tribulations of Electron and Light Beam Induced Radiation Effects
Session Chair: Ursel Bangert (University of Limerick, Ireland)
This session will address ways to overcome probe and dose induced issues, and moreover, to advantageously exploit beam and physical probes of varied properties (e.g., regarding dose, energy, strength) for characterisation of samples across the entire materials spectrum, using assessment by all types of (e.g., physical probe, light, electron) microscopy. Contributions are furthermore invited to demonstrate direct effects and result outcomes from visualising, imaging and spectroscopically assessing materials, ranging from inorganic to organic and bio materials.
Frontiers in BioImaging Sessions
Frontiers in BioImaging: Label-free Quantitative Optical Microscopy
Session Chair: Paola Borri (Cardiff University, UK)
The session will cover methods to image biological cells and tissues label-free, including quantitative phase imaging, quantitative differential interference contrast microscopy (qDIC), vibrational microscopy (spontaneous Raman, coherent Raman), Brillouin micro-spectroscopy, second and third harmonic generation microscopy, autofluorescence. Specific emphasis will be on quantitative techniques and image analysis methodologies.
Frontiers in BioImaging: Biological Applications of Fluorescence Microscopy Beyond the Diffraction Limit
Session Chair: Dylan Owen (King’s College London, UK)
The rise of super-resolution has involved the development of probes, labelling strategy, hardware acquisition software and analysis algorithms. With super-resolution system now commercially and widely available, new insight is now being generated on a range of biological frontiers. These include neuroscience, immunology, microbiology and others. This session will showcase this new understanding and is open to anyone developing, or just using, super-resolution to make new biological discoveries.
Frontiers in BioImaging: Developments in Super-resolution Microscopy
Session Chair: Seamus Holden (Newcastle University, UK)
All the latest developments in light microscopes that beat the diffraction limit (STORM/ PALM, SIM, STED etc.). Including the latest improvements in high resolution, high speed, multicolour , multimodal or correlative super-resolution microscopy. As well as developments in probes and algorithms. Plus anything else that involves making microscopes less blurry.
Frontiers in BioImaging: Light Sheet Microscopy: Imaging Complex Biological Samples in Time and Space
Session Chair: Steve Thomas (University of Birmingham, UK)
The great potential of light sheet imaging is the ability to image dynamic biological events in 3D samples. This session will focus on the application of light sheet and other advanced microscopy techniques to imaging dynamic processes within complex 3D samples. It will cover the challenges of imaging fast events (such as the beating heart), events which occur over long periods of time (e.g. angiogenesis, embryonic development) or imaging biomolecules in thick tissue sections. It will also cover the multiplexing of light sheet with other modalities, such as super-resolution or multiphoton microscopy to help overcome these challenges.
SPM Sessions
SPM: Advancing Materials Science via Scanning Probes
Session Chair: Oleg Kolosov (Lancaster University, UK)
Development of modern materials and devices increasingly relies on their nanoscale structure and local properties. Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) plays a critical role in establishing connections between the structure, physical and chemical traits on materials at the nanoscale and the final material performance. SPM is vital to both fundamental and applied research, creating paradigms for novel materials and guiding development of engineering devices. This symposium will report on the latest scanning probe developments advancing wide areas of materials science and engineering, and link the champions in the SPM field and leading material scientists establishing new synergetic collaborations.
Five Bruker travel bursaries have been allocated to PhD students contributing to this session by means of a talk or poster presentation.


This session is sponsored by Bruker & Scanwel Ltd
SPM of Soft and Biological Matter
Session Chair: Jamie Hobbs (University of Sheffield, UK)
Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques have unique capabilities for exploring the properties of soft matter and biological systems. These systems frequently have heterogeneous structural, mechanical and chemical properties that vary over length scales of just a few nanometres, can combine ordered and disordered regions, and often change dramatically with time, all impacting on their ultimate properties and function. This session will showcase the capabilities of SPM to help understand such complex systems, including applications to polymer and biological systems of imaging, measurement of mechanical and chemical properties, force spectroscopy and high speed scanning.
SPM - A tool for Pharmaceutical and Applied Biological/Biomedical Research
Session Chair: Stephanie Allen (University of Nottingham, UK)
The applications of scanning probe microscopy in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical research, in both industry and academia, are diverse. From studies into the fundamental basis of disease and the identification of new biological targets, to the characterization of physiochemical properties of drug-substances, the optimization of novel drug-delivery formulations and development new materials for cellular therapies and regenerative medicine. This session aims to provide an opportunity for researchers to present their latest research in this area. Abstracts are encouraged in all of the above areas.
SPM: Nanomechanics for Biology and Biomedicine
Session Chair: Nuria Gavara (Queen Mary University of London, UK)
Nanomechanics using AFM offers the possibility to characterize biological samples at the nanonewton and picoforce scale in physiological conditions, often in conjunction with advanced light-based imaging. Given the multiparametric outputs and mapping possibilities of the latest instruments, larger areas can be explored and more mechanical estimates found, providing a richer mechanical picture that can be extended up to tissue and organ levels. Similarly, faster and more precise systems also have expanded the possibilities of force spectroscopy approaches to better characterize the mechanical behaviour of individual proteins or biomolecules. Finally, while nanomechanics expands its range towards smaller and larger scales, more complex mechanics models are being proposed to better characterize these increasingly-specialized experiments.
Life/Physical Sessions
Bio Applications: Imaging in Disease
Session Chair: Claire Wells (King’s College London, UK)
Imaging cells in fixed samples and living tissue is transforming our view of disease progress from neurological disorders to cancer. This session aims to highlight the latest developments at high resolution and in vivo imaging with an emphasis on highlighting advances in the field. Contributions to this symposium are solicited from any area of research where imaging techniques are being applied to the study of human disease.
Imaging the Immune System
Session Chair: Theresa Ward (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK)
The immune system is a highly sophisticated and dynamic group of cells and organs that constantly have to adapt to maintain healthy tissues in the body. While, traditionally, flow cytometry has been the stalwart fluorescence workhorse of the immunology community, fluorescence microscopy techniques now provide fantastic platforms to enable researchers to delve into the behaviour of live immune cells, study population traffic, homing and signalling both in vitro and in vivo. This session will showcase the latest developments using imaging at high resolution and in vivo. Contributions to this symposium are solicited from any area of research where imaging techniques are being applied to the study of immunology.
Using Cryo-electron Microscopy to Investigate Macromolecular Structure
Session Chair: Rebecca Thompson (University of Leeds, UK)
The recent advances in cryo-electron microscope hardware and software have revolutionised the field. This session focuses on how both single particle and tomography data collection approaches, combined with method developments, are enabling cryo-EM to tackle increasingly complex biological questions.
Correlative Microscopy
Session Chair: Leandro Lemgruber (University of Glasgow, UK)
Correlative microscopy is a combination of different microscopy techniques to observe the same object/event, enabling to extract more information and details than from a single method on its own. This has allowed the understanding of the dynamic behavior of cellular components and tissues, and their connections in different scales. This session will reflect the latest developments and applications of Correlative Microscopy in different research studies and areas.
Imaging in the Big Data era: Large Data Sets Rich in Information
Session Chair: Tobias Starborg (University of Manchester, UK) & Martin Jones (The Francis Crick Institute, UK)
Advances in technology are allowing us to image at unprecedented resolution with enormous fields of view. Where we once relied on piecing together information from 2-dimensional images we are now capable of imaging in multiple dimensions across a multitude of length scales. With the increase in data acquisition capability the apparent complexity of the techniques is increasing. However, the imaging community is made up of people with differing, complementary, skill sets which are working together to make the techniques easier to interpret. Material scientists have been moving the technology forward increasing throughput and the number of layers of information. Biologists are developing and adapting specimen preparation techniques to maximise information gained from their samples. New techniques are increasing the amount of information that can be gleaned from the large data sets. Beyond the data collection, advances in computational techniques are allowing users to interrogate their data to find the new truths. New analysis techniques harness the power of large-scale computing resources and the latest computational methods, including machine learning. This session will highlight some of the ongoing development in 3D imaging techniques along with methods that allow us to interpret and extract meaning from huge complex imaging data sets.
Believing is More than Seeing: Learning and Models in Quantitative Imaging
Session Chair: Jason Swedlow (University of Dundee, UK)
A new generation of supervised learning tools have emerged that may become the methods of choice for advanced image processing and analytics. Where once sophisticated edge detection algorithms were cutting edge, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) now rule. Applications for CNNs in segmentation, restoration, classification, and perhaps most exotically, content-based image retrieval are all demonstrated and may become routine. This session will explore applications for this new approach to computational modelling and will aim to assess whether it is time for widespread adoption across biological imaging.
UK Applied Image Analysis (NEUBIAS UK and IAFIG-RMS)
Session Chair: Dominic Waithe (University of Oxford, UK)
The theme of this session is to highlight and showcase image analysis and to publicise some of the resources and opportunities available to this community from within the UK and beyond. Abstracts are invited to present any form of microscopy image analysis to the community although the emphasis is on shareable technology which is of practical interest. It could be a state-of-the-art technique provided as a shareable plugin or even a reimplementation or optimisation of existing code for example. Innovative pipelines of image analysis are also invited for presentation.
In situ Electron Microscopy Applied to Inorganic Materials
Session Chair: Chris Parmenter (University of Nottingham, UK)
Imagine being able to harness the imaging power of an electron microscope under the conditions of the systems that you would like to study, be it in liquid, gas, at temperature of with an applied electric field. Until recently this was the preserve of a few specialised labs, however, the rise of in situ EM fuelled by MEMS device sample holders has seen a wave of research that was previously out of reach or considered not feasible. In this session we will explore the use of such technology, in particular with heating and biasing stages for research in materials sciences.
In situ Electron Microscopy Applied to Soft Matter and Biological Systems
Session Chair: Chris Parmenter (University of Nottingham, UK)
Imagine being able to harness the imaging power of an electron microscope under the conditions of the systems that you would like to study, be it in liquid, gas, at temperature of with an applied electric field. Until recently this was the preserve of a few specialised labs, however, the rise of in situ EM fuelled by MEMS device sample holders has seen a wave of research that was previously out of reach or considered not feasible. In this session we will explore the use of such technology, in particular with liquid cells for research in soft matter and biological sciences.
FIB Microscopy and Sample Preparation
Session Chair: Xiang li Zhong (University of Manchester, UK)
FIB microscopes have become highly flexible micro-laboratories, enabling high resolution sample preparation, 2D and 3D characterisation, nano-fabrication and rapid prototyping, in applications spanning from physical to biological sciences. This session will cover two important areas: (1) Novel FIB methodologies and applications and (2) Sample preparation systems/applications. Effective sample preparation is often the key to successful microscopy, and we encourage contributions that use FIB or a wide range of other techniques. The in-cooperated FIB & Prep User Group meeting provides an open forum to share experimental, theoretical and instrumentation advances and tips.
This session is sponsored by Oxford Instruments & Thermo Fisher Scientific
Multimode Ion Beam Microscopy: Hybrid-techniques and Spectroscopy
Session Chair: Trevor Almeida (University of Glasgow, UK)
The ability to combine focused ion beam (FIB) methods with the wide range of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) associated techniques, and advanced spectroscopies such as SIMS, has made modern FIB/FIB-SEMs multi-dimensional tools for nano-scale fabrication and chemical/structural analysis. In this symposium, we welcome contributions spanning analytical FIB imaging and spectroscopy (including EDS/SIMS), Xe, He and Ne FIB, hybrid FIB-SEM techniques, micro or nano-scale milling and 3-dimensional tomography/reconstruction, as well as electron- and ion-beam induced deposition. Innovative developments and novel studies from a variety of fields including engineering, Earth and material science, for fundamental research or technological applications, are intended to demonstrate the true versatility of modern FIB instruments.
X-ray Microscopy: Beyond Attenuation Contrast Tomography
Session Chair: Michael Doube (City University of Hong Kong's College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences)
X-ray microscopy encompasses projection, tomographic, scattering, and spectroscopic imaging techniques, of static or dynamic specimens. This session will explore imaging approaches and results that exploit physical properties of X-rays and microscopic objects, in modes other than static attenuation contrast. Studies using cutting edge synchrotron beamlines and more accessible laboratory systems and protocols will be welcomed.
Quantitative Microscopy in Earth, Planetary and Archaeological Sciences
Session Chair: Duncan Muir (Cardiff University, UK)
Quantitative microscopic investigation is critical for advancing our understanding of scientific problems today. Researchers have access to a broad range of analytical equipment including, but not limited to, light, electron and gas ion microscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, 3-D correlative microscopy, X-ray tomography and associated spectroscopic techniques. We invite presentations on examples from Earth, Planetary and Archaeological Sciences where novel microscopy techniques have been used to help construct quantitative datasets preferably with practical outcomes and applications which advance scientific and/or technical understanding.
Microscopy of Materials for Health Care
Session Chair: Roland Kroger (University of York, UK)
Material Science in Health Care has become an integral part of research aiming to develop new approaches e.g. for cellular level treatments of diseases such as cancer or for the development of mineralised tissue for bone or tooth replacements. Increasing advances in treatments, devices and diagnostics have been accompanied by increasingly stringent regulatory demands. This research area requires excellent control of materials’ properties and robust characterisation tools to visualise structure and composition with high spatial resolution. Therefore advanced electron microscopy as well as X-ray and light based characterisation tools will be in the focus of this session.
Tissue Cytometry
Session Chair: Derek Davies (The Francis Crick Institute, UK)
Conventional microscopy of tissue sections allows the visualisation of tissue architecture but the definition of complex phenotypic signatures via labelled probes in individual cells is challenging. Recently the power of multiplexing that has been used in flow cytometry for some time has been translated to sections by techniques such as imaging mass cytometry, multiplexed ion beam imaging and laser scanning cytometry. This session will bring together these technologies to explore how 2D and 3D reconstruction of tissues can provide new insights into the relationship between cell types in health and disease.