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.
James Jonkman
University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario
Board Member
James is Manager of the Advanced Optical Microscopy Facility (AOMF). He has developed and currently manages the largest microscopy facility in Canada. With over 40 instruments at 4 sites, he and his team at the AOMF help nearly 500 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.
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.
Member Scientific Platforms
