Executive Board
Claire M. Brown
McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
Chair
Claire is Director, Advanced BioImaging Facility (ABIF). She has been working in the field of quantitative light microscopy for over 25 years. Her research has focused on applying biophysical techniques to fluorescence microscopy images to extract quantitative data measuring protein distributions, dynamics and interactions. She have applied these techniques to study proteins that regulate cell adhesion and migration to understand how migration is regulated at the molecular level in normal and diseased cellular systems. Her research has also focused on optimizing to minimize phototoxicity and ensure the collection of high-fidelity data that is free of light induced artifacts. Quality control and standards for quantitative light microscopy have also been an important area of research. For 14 years, She have been directing the ABIF and developing and implementing active learning courses and workshops in fundamental and advanced light microscopy.
Guang Gao
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
Board Member
Dr. Guang Gao is the Facility Manager of the Super-Resolution Microscopy Core (LSI Imaging Facility) at the University of British Columbia (UBC), a shared advanced bioimaging platform supporting approximately 150 laboratories across 15 departments. He is a bioimaging expert with over 10 years of experience in managing multi-user research facilities and advanced imaging technologies, with particular expertise in super-resolution microscopy.
Dr. Gao completed his PhD at UBC (2012–2018), where his research focused on organelle nanoscale organization, followed by postdoctoral training in Cell Biology and Virology. In his current role, he provides strategic vision and leadership for the Imaging Facility, overseeing day-to-day operations, developing grant applications, and leading major strategic initiatives. He also spearheads the development and implementation of novel imaging methodologies and instrumentation, which have contributed to numerous high-impact publications (PLOS Biology 2019; Nature 2022; Journal of Cell Biology 2024) and invited scientific presentations at international venues, including EMBO Workshops, Keystone Symposia, and the Advanced Imaging Methods (AIM) Workshop.
Beyond UBC, Dr. Gao actively contributes to the broader imaging community at both national and international levels. He serves on organizing and advisory committees for major bioimaging courses, workshops, including the Montreal Light Microscopy Course (MLMC), and for conferences within Canada BioImaging (CBI), and BioImaging North America (BINA).
James Jonkman
University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario
Board Member
James is a Staff Scientist at University Health Network where he developed and manages Canada’s largest optical microscopy facility - the Advanced Optical Microscopy Facility (AOMF). With over 40 instruments at 4 sites, he and his team at the AOMF help nearly 600 users per year with every manner of optical microscopy, from basic fluorescence and brightfield acquisition to advanced techniques such as Super-resolution, FRAP, FRET, and 3D analysis. James is particularly passionate about teaching and training users. He has been running week-long optical microscopy courses in the AOMF for 14 years, has co-authored several book chapters and review articles, presented at numerous conferences and webinars, and has helped as an organizer and instructor for the Montreal Light Microscopy Course (MLMC). James was also the co-president of the Canadian Cytometry and Microscopy Association (CCMA) from 2014-2017 and is on the executive board of Canada BioImaging.
Sabine Mai
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Board Member
Sabine obtained her PhD in Karlsruhe (Germany), did her postdoctoral research at the Basel Institute of Immunology (Switzerland), and currently is Professor of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Human Anatomy and Cell Science at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg (Canada), and the Director of the Genomic Center for Cancer Research and Diagnosis (GCCRD). She holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Genomic Instability and Nuclear Architecture in Cancer (2018-2025).
Sabine has created the GCCRD as a regional and national cutting edge imaging facility with Canada Foundation for Innovation funding. She has trained >1000 HQPs in basic, inter-mediate and advanced imaging technologies and offers two intensive courses/workshops per year since 2002. She also organizes Imaging Symposia that attract speakers from all over the world.
Stephen Ogg
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
Board Member
Steve is the Manager of the advanced microscopy core for the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta. Since 2010, he manages a core that provides both light and electron microscopy resources and expertise to more than 300 researchers from 80 research groups. The light microscopy core provides instrumentation from basic transmission contrast techniques for histological samples and wide-field fluorescence microscopy to the latest super resolution techniques. Importantly, the microscopy team is involved at every stage of the experimental workflow from specimen preparation to post-acquisition image analysis. Steve focuses on implementing strategies in the core that will help users overcome the technological barriers inherent in cutting-edge microscopy systems. Passionate about quantitative microscopy, Steve strives towards thinking about images as datasets instead of pictures.
Thomas Stroh
Montreal Neurological Institute, Montreal, Quebec
Board Member
Thomas has established the Microscopic Cellular Imaging Facility (MCIF) of the Montreal Neurological Institute (The Neuro) in 2005 and has overseen the growth of the facility from three shared microscopes to a modern microscopy platform providing access to and support with advanced microscopy ranging from standard widefield applications through live cell microscopy to fluorescence super-resolution techniques. The MCIF currently serves 33 laboratories from the Neuro, other McGill departments and other Montreal Universities. In his own laboratory, Thomas studies the regulation and trafficking of G Protein-Coupled Receptors in neurons and endocrine cells. He is passionate about teaching microscopy both to his own students and the users of the MCIF, in particular promoting the perception and use of microscopic data as quantitative data volumes. He is very engaged in networking and strengthening the microscopy community both nationally and internationally.
Nhu Trieu
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick
Board Member
Nhu Trieu is the Director of the Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility (MMF) at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). The MMF is an open access, interdisciplinary imaging and analysis platform that provides high-level training, subject matter expertise, and serves as the oldest centralized source of institutional and local research ecosystem knowledge for over 950+ internal UNB clients from 9 departments (biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, forestry, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering) across 3 faculties (science, engineering, forestry) and 400+ external clients from other non-profit academic institutions, government, and industry of all sizes over the last 20 years. Nhu is a bioimaging and sample preparation generalist with over 10 years of experience in histology, confocal, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy and over 15 years of diverse research experience over multiple model and non-traditional organisms. As the fourth-generation director of the MMF since its establishment in 1966, Nhu oversees operation and strategic development, national and international collaborations, and still maintains biology expertise for the facility. She also actively contributes to the broader imaging community through her involvement as Counsellor at Large for the Microscopy Society of Canada (MSC), Executive Board member for Canada BioImaging (CBI), Eastern Canada Representative for the Canadian Network of Scientific Platforms (CNSP), and the inaugural Intern for Canada on the BioImaging North America Executive Board (BINA).
Member Scientific Platforms
