Joint press release of German BioImaging and the Cluster of Excellence “Physics of Life”, TU Dresden

The international Network of European BioImage Analysts (NEUBIAS) receives a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) as part of their Advancing Imaging through Collaborative Projects program to secure the sustainability of NEUBIAS, establish strong connections to similar initiatives, and share knowledge about state-of-the-art bioimage analysis tools and methods globally.

Modern life-sciences are unthinkable without advanced microscopy imaging techniques and quantitative bioimage analysis. “Spreading the profession of bioimage analysts and bioimage analysis knowledge internationally are the major aims of NEUBIAS.” introduces Robert Haase, PI of the project and at the DFG Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life, TU Dresden. The project is funded with $327.000 over two years and will be hosted by the German Society for Microscopy and Image Analysis (GerBI-GMB). “This grant will help ensure novices and experts alike can access cutting edge techniques, reduce duplications of effort, and support everyone who is working to making new discoveries possible.” explains Beth Cimini, co-PI from the Broad Institute, Boston MA, USA.. “We aim to promote quantitative bio-image analysis to become part of more imaging experiments”, says Paula Sampaio, co-PI from i3S, Porto.

"NEUBIAS had a tremendous impact on the community by training a powerful generation of bioimage analysts  across Europe and beyond." resumes Florian Levet, co-PI from the Bordeaux Imaging Center in France. Clara Prats, co-PI from University of Copenhagen, adds “NEUBIAS has successfully paved the ground for the recognition and awareness of this new profession.” The awarded grant also includes hiring a Community Manager who will coordinate the network and support activities towards founding the Society of Bioimage Analysts (SoBIAS) and ensuring its sustainability. For this, we are happy to build on the experience of our hosting institution GerBI-GMB.Rocco D’Antuono, co-PI from The Francis Crick Institute, London explains “We aim to give this career-determining opportunity to the scientists of tomorrow!“

The new project includes travel grant opportunities for early-career bioimage analysts who seek to join NEUBIAS activities, explicitly including scientists outside central Europe. “This opportunity will allow us to bring together established bioimage analysts and the next generation of bioimage analysis enthusiasts.” explains Elnaz Faceli, co-PI from the University of Helsinki. The planned activities will expand the network internationally and connect to related imaging and image analysis societies around the globe. “We are excited to be able to not only maintain NEUBIAS but also, and more importantly, to introduce some of the ideas and spirit of NEUBIAS to the US.” adds Simon F. Nørrelykke, co-PI from the Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

A dedicated team will work on collecting bioimage analysis teaching materials and make them accessible to the global imaging and life science community. “The successful series of Bioimage Analysis Books will be continued” adds Kota Miura, co-PI from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and an Associate of German Bioimaging.

The team:

• Dr. Robert Haase, DFG Cluster of Excellence “Physics of Life”, TU Dresden, Germany
• Dr. Kota Miura, Centre for Cellular Imaging, Core Facilities, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Associate of German Bioimaging
• Dr. Christian Tischer, Centre for Bioimage Analysis, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
• Dr. Florian Levet, Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, Bordeaux, France and Bordeaux Imaging Center, Bordeaux, France
• Dr. Paula Sampaio, Head of the Advanced Light Microscopy Scientific Platform, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
• Clara Prats, PhD, Associate Professor and, Director of the Danish BioImaging Infrastructure and the Light Microscopy and Image Analysis Technology Platform, CFIM - University of Copenhagen.
• Dr. Julia Fernandez-Rodriguez, Head of the Centre for Cellular Imaging, and Co-Director of the Swedish National Microscopy Infrastructure University of Gothenburg, Sweden
• Rocco D’Antuono, MSc, Crick Advanced Light Microscopy Facility (CALM), The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
• Dr. Simon F. Nørrelykke, Director of the Image Analysis Collaboratory, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
• Elnaz Fazeli, MSc, Biomedicum Imaging Unit, Faculty of Medicine and HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Finland
• Beth Cimini, PhD, Senior Group Leader, Imaging Platform, Broad Institute, Cambridge MA, USA

About the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative:
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded in 2015 to help solve some of society’s toughest challenges – from eradicating disease and improving education, to addressing the needs of our local communities. Our mission is to build a more inclusive, just, and healthy future for everyone. For more information, please visit www.chanzuckerberg.com.

About NEUBIAS:
NEUBIAS is a unique network of bioimage analysts centered in Europe and open to everyone, aiming at strengthening the bridge between life science,  computer science and digital image processing by 1) establishing the role and identity of bioimage analysts in the life science community, 2) sharing bioimage analysis knowledge and techniques, 3) improving image analysis technology, foster innovations and collaborations, 4) securing image data integrity and 5) complementing rapidly evolving microscopy techniques. It was founded in 2016 and initially funded through European COST Action CA15124. NEUBIAS executed 15 training schools, trained over 400 new Bioimage Analysts from over 40 countries in its first 5 years. https://eubias.org/NEUBIAS/

About German BioImaging - GMB e.V.:
The German BioImaging-Gesellschaft für Mikroskopie und Bildanalyse e.V. (GerBI-GMB, Society for Microscopy and Image Analysis) is a scientific society representing the interests of students, researchers, core facilities, and professionals in Germany involved in microscopy, image data analysis, and research data management for the life sciences. The society fosters knowledge exchange within the community and interaction between students, scientists, and engineers from academia and industry. https://gerbi-gmb.de/

About PoL - Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life:
The Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life (PoL) at TU Dresden focuses on the laws of physics that underlie the organization of life into molecules, cells and tissues. At the cluster, physicists, biologists and computer scientists join forces to investigate how active matter organizes itself into predetermined structures in cells and tissues, thus giving rise to life. PoL is funded by the DFG as part of the Excellence Strategy. It is a collaboration between scientists from TU Dresden and research institutions of the DRESDEN-concept network, such as the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (MPI-PKS), the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research (IPF) and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). www.physics-of-life.tu-dresden.de

Further information:
Dr. Robert Haase
DFG Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life (PoL), TU Dresden

Media contact GerBI-GMB:
Dr. Janina Hanne
Managing Director
German BioImaging – Gesellschaft für Mikroskopie und Bildanalyse e.V.
c/o Universität Konstanz
Tel.: +49 151 42028016
Email: janina.hanne@gerbi-gmb.de

Media contact PoL:
Dr. Maria Begasse
DFG Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life (PoL), TU Dresden
Tel.: +49 351 463-41244