Our top picks of ABRF 2025
Usually, ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’, is the prevailing moto of Sin City, but that is certainly not the case for ABRF 2025. The 23–26 March annual meeting, What happens in Cores doesn’t stay in Cores, is taking over the Las Vegas Strip by bringing scientists from around the world to the Horseshoe Las Vegas (NV, USA).
This 4-day meeting is packed full of interesting talks, engaging workshops, innovative technology showcases, fun social opportunities and plenty of time to network. However, before we get session specific, I want to flag that each day of the meeting, excluding Sunday, will begin with the opportunity to run, walk or roll through the city. Meeting at 6.30 am in the hotel lobby, this active excursion offers a brilliant way to explore Vegas and chat informally with other attendees; can you think of a better way to start the day?
Now, without further ado, here are my top session picks for the conference!
On Sunday, 23 March, there’s an opportunity to settle into the conference venue and attend a full-day business skills workshop geared towards understanding the relationship between science and business in core facilities, or a half-day workshop highlighting how to optimize core operations by streamlining data management and delivery. Don’t forget to register for these workshops ahead of the conference! Sunday will conclude with a welcome and opening keynote from Geoscience Professor Elisabeth Hausrath from the University of Nevada (NV, USA) followed by a reception in the evening.
Monday, 24 March
Sample preparation for single cell genomics application
10:45 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Single-cell analysis is a powerful technique for characterizing complex tissues and identifying rare cell populations. However, there are several technical considerations that influence cell viability and data quality in single-cell experiments. In this session, you’ll hear from three different research initiatives about the preparation of samples for single cell genomics applications and how to decide which emerging single-cell RNA sequencing platform is right for your research.
What’s new in imaging cytometry? A full breakdown and comparison of current instrumentation
10:45 am – 12:00 pm PDT
This discussion, led by Daniel Vocelle (Associate Director of the Flow Cytometry Core at Michigan State University, MI, USA), David Adams (Director of the Flow Cytometry Core at the University of Michigan, MI, USA), Aja Rieger (Manager of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry Flow Cytometry Facility at the University of Alberta, Canada), and Flow Cytometry Core Manager Bert Ladd from Loyola University (IL, USA), will explore the recent advances, applications and detailed instrument comparisons related to imaging cytometry.
From molecules to geolocations: data integration at different scales
2:45 – 4:00 pm PDT
Major advances in a diverse array of technologies including materials, optics, microelectronics, sensors, data acquisition systems and artificial intelligence have made it possible to collect data characterizing phenomena on differing spatial and temporal scales, from molecular to global and from microseconds to centuries. This panel will highlight three use cases where widely varying data has been aggregated to inform long-standing problems, such as agricultural issues, structural racism and evolutionary outcomes related to epidemiology and virology.
Tuesday, 25 March
Epigenomics beyond DNA methylation: a discussion with core facilities assessing protein-DNA interactions genome-wide
10:45 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Join this discussion to learn about and contribute to the field of epigenomics, which includes the study of DNA methylation, chromatin accessibility, genome-wide protein building and histone modification as well as the utilization of a wide range of assays. This session, led by Associate Professor Abhinav Jain from MD Anderson Cancer Center (TX, USA), Lab Manager Amy Lyndaker from Cornell University (CT, USA) and Alex Zevin from Fred Hutch Cancer Center (WA, USA), will focus on ChIP-seq, CUT&RUN and related protein-centered epigenomic assays.
Multi-modal, correlative and integrative cryo-electron microscopy
10:45 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Interested in all things cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET)?
This session brings together leading scientists and experts from research laboratories and national cryo-EM/ET core facilities to highlight developments in sample vitrification, correlative focused ion beam (FIB)-milling, volume EM and cryo-CLEM (correlative light and electron microscopy). The session will discuss the principles, applications and challenges of advancing the field of integrative and multimodal cryo-EM/ET.
Asteroid analysis, microplastics and antimicrobial resistance, and untapped instrument funding
4:30 – 5:45 pm PDT
Delve into the range of innovative research supported by core facilities, from planetary science to microbiology, in this session, which will be split into three talks. First, we’ll hear from Thomas Zega – Professor at the University of Arizona (AZ, USA) – about his analysis of samples from the Bennu asteroid using electron microscopy and other analytical techniques. Next, Boston University (MA, USA) PhD student Neila Gross will share how the antimicrobial resistance behavior of bacteria that form biofilms on microplastics is contributing to environmental and public health concerns. Finally, Katie Wisecarver – a program director for the Department of Defense’s DURIP (Defense University Research Instrumentation Program, VA, USA) funding opportunity – will provide an overview of the program and offer guidance on how core facilities can utilize the program to support cutting-edge research.
Wednesday, 26 March
What a cluster: identifying and solving common pitfalls in flow cytometry data analysis
10:45 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Join this interactive session to discuss flow cytometry data analysis. Starting out with a brief tutorial highlighting best practices in data analysis, the session will then jump into examples where data analysis went awry and discuss practical solutions.
This breakout session will be led by Alice Wiedeman, Manager of the Human Immunophenotyping Core at the Benaroya Research Institute (WA, USA); Caroline Roe, Cytomics Data Science Research Manager at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CO, USA); and Celine Silva-Lages, Research Flow Cytometry Core Manager at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (OH, USA).
For the full agenda, check out the meeting website.
