Bioimaging Working Group

Committee

Dr Trevor Jackson, (Facilitator), Clinical and Laboratory Sciences, Newcastle University.
t.r.jackson@ncl.ac.uk
Research Interests: cell signalling and in particular the investigation of phosphoinositide regulation of centaurin ARF-GAPs and SGK protein kinase families.

Prof Patrick Hussey, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University.
p.j.hussey@durham.ac.uk

Aims

This group will provide a forum for exchange of information, expertise and opinion between researchers in the North East who use or wish to use bioimaging in their studies. Bioimaging techniques are typically those that result in the generation of an image carrying information about the location or level of an atom/ion or molecule within a living cell, tissue or organism in 2d or 3d space and often also on time. Simultaneous monitoring or multiple species e.g. multicolour fluorescence microscopy is often possible and is termed multidimensional bioimaging. The group is interested in all aspects of bioimaging from atomic and nano-scale approaches including scanning probe and ultra-high resolution light microscopies to macroscale imaging such as whole animal/tissue fluorescene imaging, PET and MR imaging and spectroscopy as well as ultrasound and other minimally-invasive imaging technologies. We acknowledge that many of the same techniques are of value in studies of non-living material and we are happy to invite those interested in these aspects of imaging to also participate in the group.

We aim to support the development and introduction of novel bioimaging techniques and equipment into the North East and to promote transfer of knowledge amd skills in their use within the region. We also aim to provide a voice for the bioimaging user community to contribute to the discussion of strategic needs for bioimaging equipment, personnel and informatics infrastructures within the region.

Interactions with other Working Groups:

Series of bioimages are often collected consecutively and linked together to generate multidimensional movies revealing the behaviour of one or more species of molecules during a biological event. These datasets provide unique insight into molecular distribution, metabolic activity, physiology and function in cellular and organismal structures. Therefore this group has a strong interest in supporting the application of bioimaging methods for studies in systems biology.

By providing information on molecular location, interactions and dynamics bioimages can describe these fundamental properties of individual gene products; bioimage data is playing an increasing role in the bioinformatics or organismal and proteomics. Bioimaging techniques are also now employed for in vivo screening in genomics as well as in drug discovery and chemical genetics. The bioimaging group hopes to encourage the development and use of these approaches.

Bioimaging datasets are large, intrinsically information rich and have meta-data associated that is necessary for their interpretation. The challenge of working with these datasets is driving research at the leading edge of applied informatics, high performance computing visualizing and human/technology interactions. The bioimage group therefore seeks to support discussion and promote research in bioimage informatics in collaboration with members of the bioinformatics group.

Bioimaging is a field alive with new technical developments in terms of new reagents and equipment and has significant interfaces with the pharmaceutical industry, nanotechnology, medical physics and data intensive computing. The group will be both a beneficiary of and a provider of information to the enabling technology group.

Bioimaging

Events


2007
2005

2007

The role of APC/C-Cdh1 in mitosis
Monday 12 February 2007, Medical School, Newcastle University

North East Bioimaging Approaches Workshop
Thursday 25 January 2007, Kenworthy Hall, St Mary's College, Durham.

2005

Bioimaging and Informatics: Across the Spectrum
Monday 16 May, David Shaw Lecture Theatre, Foyer & Boardroom, The Medical School, Newcastle University