John Nolan is Professor at the Scintillon Institute, where his group develops new instrumentation, reagents, and assays for cytometry and single cell analysis. He is also the founder of Cellarcus Biosciences, which provides tools and services for extracellular vesicle research and application. He earned BS degrees (Biology and Chemistry) at the University of Illinois, and a PhD (Biochemistry) from Penn State. He has served as Director of the National Flow Cytometry Resource at Los Alamos National Lab, President of the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry, and serves on the editorial board of Cytometry. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).

Yuval Kluger has been working in the broad fields of bioinformatics, machine learning, and dynamics of quantum fields. His main contributions to date relate to development of spectral methods and machine learning methods for unsupervised and supervised learning, cell specific regulatory networks, algorithms for analyzing genomics and epigenomics sequencing data, and algorithms for detecting and characterizing biomarkers in high dimensional assays.

Garrett is a Scientist in the Cell Therapy Analytical Development group at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he and his group support the implementation of analytical tools to support cell therapy product development and characterization. Garrett has supported characterization activities for a wide variety of BMS cell therapies, including commercial products Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel) and Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel), as well as BMS’s clinical phase products including GPRC5D, Dual Targeting BCMAxGPRC5D, and NEXT CD19 assets. In particular, Garrett focuses on implementing spectral cytometry to support the development of next-generation cell therapies. In his spare time, you can find Garrett cycling around Seattle’s beautiful Burke Gilman trail or hosting dinner parties for his friends.

Joe Gray is Professor Emeritus in the Biomedical Engineering Department at OHSU and Laboratory Medicine at UCSF. His laboratory has developed advanced cellular, genome, and image analysis technologies to advance prenatal diagnosis, and radiation dosimetry, elucidate mechanisms involved in cancer genesis, progression, and response to therapy, and to develop more durable and tolerable cancer treatments. His work is described in over 570 publications and 150 US patents. He is a Fellow of the AAAS, the AIMBE, the AACR Academy, and a National Academy of Medicine member. Awards include the Research Award (RRS), the E.O. Lawrence Award (USDOE), Fulwyler Award (ISAC), Curt Stern Award (ASHG), Brinker Award (Susan G. Komen Foundation), Shubitz Award (University of Chicago), Knudson Award (NCI), three Team Science awards (AACR) and the Sinclair Medal (NCRPM).

Lewis L. Lanier is an American Cancer Society Professor and J. Michael Bishop MD Distinguished Professor Emeritus at University of California San Francisco and Founding Director of the Parker Institute for Immunotherapy at UCSF. Dr. Lanier received his B.S. in Biology from Virginia Tech and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from UNC – Chapel Hill. After postdoctoral studies, he joined the R&D Department at the Becton Dickinson Monoclonal Center, advancing to Associate Director. In 1990, he joined the DNAX Research Institute, where he advanced to Director of Immunobiology, and in 1999 joined the faculty of UCSF. His research group studies Natural Killer cells, which recognize and eliminate cells that have become transformed or infected by viruses. In recognition of his contributions he was awarded the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic Tumor Immunology from the Cancer Research Institute (2002), received the Rose Payne Award for contributions to the field of Immunogenetics by the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (2005), was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences (2010), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2011). He served as President of the American Association of Immunologists (2006-2007), received the AAI Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2017, and awarded the AAI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.

Dr. Paula Araya earned her Ph.D. in Immunology from Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, where she developed a deep expertise in immune system mechanisms within the tumor microenvironment. She advanced her academic journey as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, focusing on immune dysregulation in individuals with Down syndrome. Since joining BioLegend in 2023 as a Technical Applications Scientist, Paula has been a driving force in scientific innovation. Her areas of expertise include flow cytometry, single-cell genomics and proteomics, as well as molecular and cellular biology. Through her work, she provides invaluable insights and cutting-edge solutions to the scientific community.

Stephanie Pasas-Farmer is a bioanalytical expert with over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical, biologics, and hybrid technologies. She founded BioData Solutions® in 2015 to support bioanalytical drug development through specialized consulting and software offerings. Previously, she established. Stephanie has advanced early-stage molecules into potential new drug candidates with bioanalysis support and regulatory compliance planning as well as led teams in global bioanalytical labs, focusing on large molecule and antibody-drug conjugate programs. She holds a PhD and MSc in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Kansas and a BS in chemistry from St. Mary’s College of Notre Dame.

Mariela Bollati Fogolin is Head of the Cell Biology Unit at the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo and the Uruguayan Director of the Latin American Center for Biotechnology (CABBIO). She served as Chair of the ISAC CYTO Women Task Force from 2021 to 2024. At the Cell Biology Unit, she established a dynamic and internationally recognized facility for flow cytometry and cell culture technologies that support researchers and biotech companies across Latin America. She is widely recognized as a regional leader in biotechnology and cell biology, with a strong track record in research, teaching, and scientific leadership. Mariela holds a degree in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Germany, focusing on the development of in vitro and in vivo models using flow cytometry.

Raffaello is the Global Director of Flow Cytometry at AstraZeneca, where he leads a team of 14 scientists across Washington DC, Cambridge, and Boston. His team supports over 600 scientists and 150 projects annually, aiding in the discovery and development of new therapies for various diseases. With an educational background in biotechnology and over 15 years of experience in flow cytometry, immunology, virology, and data science, Raffaello has strong expertise in both human and non-human primate models, neuroscience, and cell therapy. His work includes advancements in imaging flow cytometry and the development of new fluorochromes. He has a successful publication record with over 35 publications, a patent, and multiple certifications. In 2024, Raffaello received the ISAC Shared Research Lab Recognition Award in acknowledgment of the quality of his work. He is a passionate advocate for research excellence and pipeline delivery. His mission is to leverage his expertise and leadership to advance flow cytometry and biomedical research, contributing to the improvement of human health and well-being.

Susan Spitz, Ph.D., Incyte Corporation, Wilmington, DE Dr. Spitz is a Senior Director in the Translational Medicine department at Incyte Corporation and has over 25 years of experience in research, clinical pharmacology, and translational sciences in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. At Incyte Corporation, the Translational Medicine department develops the translational strategy and executes on that strategy for preclinical and clinical studies from proof of concept and proof of mechanism through drug approval. Sue received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Lehigh University and held positions of increasing responsibility at DuPont Pharmaceutical Company, Centocor/Janssen Biotech, and MedImmune, LLC/AstraZeneca, prior to joining Incyte in 2016. Sue has led groups that developed, validated, and executed bioanalysis for PD, biomarker, PK, and ADA assessments, performed automated methods and sample logistics, and utilized a variety of technologies in support of non-clinical and clinical programs. These efforts have contributed to the successful registration of compounds in multiple therapeutic areas. At Incyte, she contributed to building the Translational Sciences department and as a Translational Scientist has contributed to multiple small molecule and large molecule immunology, hematology, and oncology drug development programs.

Russell Weiner, PhD, FAAPS, is a recognized leader in biopharmaceuticals with over 30 years of experience in drug R&D, personalized medicine, regulated bioanalysis, and biomarker and diagnostic assay development. He is Vice President and Head of Translational Sciences at Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease, leading a team focused on translational science strategies, bioanalysis, biomarker discovery and development, and diagnostics. Dr. Weiner has held senior roles at organizations such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Daiichi Sankyo, the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, and Takeda, where he contributed to the development of immuno-therapeutics and oncology checkpoint inhibitors. Dr. Weiner has been actively involved with the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists for over 30 years and currently serves as their President. Known for his mentorship, Dr. Weiner serves as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy and has provided career guidance through workshops at universities worldwide.

Dr. Lili Wang is a NIST fellow and a leading expert in quantitative flow cytometry critical for diagnostics and advanced therapeutic development. She serves as the principal manager for the NIST Flow Cytometry Standards Consortium, a major Public-Private Partnership with key stakeholders from other agencies, industries, and academia, where she and her team work with consortium members to address pressing measurement and standards needed for bioassays, including SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing for diagnostics, vaccine testing, surveillance. In collaboration with WHO, her team has established multiple standards, including critical reference materials for HIV/AIDS monitoring, stem cell counting for blood transplantation, and the two international serology/antibody standards. She serves on multiple professional committees and published over 100 peer-reviewed articles. She is a recipient of the 2020 and 2021 US Department of Commerce Gold Medal. She obtained her Ph.D. in Chemistry from University of Notre Dame in 1996 and joined NIST in 1998.

Virginia Litwin is a thought-leader in validation and standardization focusing on “Cytometry from Bench-to-Bedside” . Virginia is President-Elect of ISAC and in 2023 she received the ICCS Coulter award in recognition of contributions to Clinical Cytometry. She is a member of the NIST Flow Cytometry Standards Consortium and has been an invited speaker at FDA/NIST several times.

Virginia serves on the CLSI Expert Panel and is chair for H62 and H42. She is an Editor for Cytometry Part B and has been a guest editor for special issues addressing translational cytometry. She founded the AAPS Flow Cytometry Community.

After obtaining a Ph.D. in Virology/Immunology from the University of Iowa, Virginia joined Lewis Lanier at DNAX as a post-doctoral fellow where she identified the KIR receptor, CD158E1. She has held leadership roles in several contract research organizations. Currently she is Scientific Affairs Director at Eurofins Clinical Trial Solutions.

David Ng is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Utah as well as a Medical Director of Applied Artificial Intelligence and Hematologic Flow Cytometry at ARUP Laboratories. He received his Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Medical Degree from University of Illinois-Chicago, residency at Dartmouth, and fellowship at the University of Washington. He has a special interest in the development and application of machine learning to clinical flow cytometry as well as implementation of high color flow panels to diagnostic and measurable residual disease testing.

Dr. Ryan Brinkman is Vice President and Research Director of Flow Cytometry at Dotmatics Inc. and Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia. A pioneering figure in flow cytometry bioinformatics, he has led the development of critical data standards that have transformed the field, including latest versions of the widely-adopted Flow Cytometry Standard (FCS) file format and MIFlowCyt standards. As Chair of the Data Standards Task Force for the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry, he launched FlowRepository, the field's primary public data repository. Dr. Brinkman founded Cytapex Bioinformatics (later acquired by Dotmatics) and developed innovative automated analysis tools including flowDensity. He initiated the FlowCAP project to advance computational methods for cell population identification and has made significant contributions to ontology development in biomedical research. His work has been instrumental in improving data interoperability and reproducibility in cytometry research, earning him the ISAC Distinguished Service Award in 2018.

The research group of Oliver Otto focuses on understanding how mechanical properties of cells and tissue impact on biological function. Specifically, he is interested in the development of optical methods, microfluidic systems and tissue models to study the rheology of single cells and multicellular systems at high spatiotemporal resolution.

Oliver received his PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge (UK). In 2012, he joined the Technical University of Dresden (Germany) as a postdoctoral researcher and in 2016 he moved to the University of Greifswald (Germany) as an independent group leader. In both assignments he worked on the development of high-throughput methods for cell mechanical characterization. Since 2021, Oliver Otto is Professor of Cellular Biophysics at the Physics Institute of the University of Greifswald (Germany).

Oliver Otto is also co-founder of the start-up company Zellmechanik Dresden, which commercializes real-time deformability cytometry, a technology for high-throughput characterization of cell mechanical properties.

Bernd Bodenmiller is a quantitative biologist specializing in the development of novel experimental and computational approaches for the quantitative analysis of tumor ecosystems. His research aims to enhance our understanding of tumor development mechanisms to advance precision oncology. Bernd earned his PhD in the group of Ruedi Aebersold at ETH Zürich and completed his postdoctoral training in the lab of Garry P. Nolan at Stanford University. In 2013, he became an assistant professor, received tenure in 2019, and was appointed as the founding director of the Department of Quantitative Biomedicine (DQBM) at the University of Zurich. In 2020, he was named a Dual Professor for Quantitative Biomedicine at both UZH and ETH Zurich. He is best known for pioneering methods such as imaging mass cytometry and concepts such as cellular neighborhoods, and he has recently introduced novel multiplexed tissue imaging approaches using X-ray fluorescence.

Dr. Gibson is an associate professor in the department of Bioengineering, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus with a joint appointment in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics and Neuroscience Program. She earned her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a specialization in nonlinear optics. Her research interest is in development of optical technologies for clinical and basic biomedical research applications. She has expertise in a variety of microscopy and spectroscopy techniques for measurement of biological samples from protein, cellular to in vivo models. Her lab is involved in collaborations with neuroscientists and neurosurgeons to design optical imaging tools to allow new studies of the brain.

Dr. Ihrie completed undergraduate studies in Biochemistry with Honors at the University of Michigan, a Ph.D. in Cancer Biology at Stanford University with Dr. Laura Attardi, and postdoctoral studies at UCSF with Dr. Arturo Álvarez-Buylla. Her work has been recognized by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, the American Association for Cancer Research/National Brain Tumor Society, the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation, and the Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation for Brain Tumor Research. Since 2012, the Ihrie Lab has studied signaling and fate decisions in the stem cells of the brain and stem-like cells in brain tumors using high dimensional cytometry. Recently, the lab and collaborators developed a new imaging analysis workflow to classify cellular neighborhoods across patient brain tissue specimens. In 2024, the Ihrie lab moved from Vanderbilt University to the University of Colorado. Dr. Ihrie is a Professor in Pediatrics – Section of Child Neurology at CU Anschutz.

Elena Hsieh earned her MD degree from University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in 2008. She completed a residency in pediatrics at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2011, and a fellowship in Allergy and Immunology at Stanford University in 2014. During her fellowship she worked in Dr. Garry Nolan’s laboratory studying pediatric lupus. She continued her research and clinical work at Stanford University as an Instructor for an additional year. In 2015, she joined the faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, jointly affiliated with the Children’s Hospital of Colorado. She is currently an Associate Professor of the Department of Immunology and Microbiology, and Pediatrics, Section of Allergy and Immunology. She is the Director of the Jeffrey Modell Center for Primary Immunodeficiency, and co-directs the Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Newborn Screen Program, both of which constitute the foundation of the immunodeficiency program at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She is also the director of University of Colorado as a FOCIS Center of Excellence. The Hsieh lab addresses mechanistic and translational questions in human immunology to enable a deeper understanding of normal immune function, and dysregulated immune processes in immunodeficiency, autoimmunity, and the overlap between the two. Her lab focuses on classical pediatric autoimmune disorders such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes, as well as genetic immune dysregulation disorders. Her lab has identified several novel human inborn errors of immunity (IEI) that lead to severe multi-organ autoimmunity/autoinflammation and infectious susceptibility. Her lab has developed mouse models from homologous human mutations to further enlighten underlying disease mechanism. Dr. Hsieh expanded her studies of immune dysregulation to Down Syndrome and COVID-19 disease given the type I interferon hypersensitivity observed in these disorders. Elena joined JEM as Associate Editor in 2023.

Maria Elena Bottazzi is a distinguished scientist and a leading figure in the fields of vaccinology and neglected tropical diseases. With a career spanning over two decades, Dr. Bottazzi has made remarkable contributions to global health through her research, leadership, and advocacy efforts. She is Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, currently serving as the Sr. Associate Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Division Chief of Pediatric Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. She is also the Co-director of Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, where Dr. Bottazzi has been instrumental in advancing innovative approaches to combat diseases that disproportionately affect underserved populations worldwide. Her work focuses on developing vaccines and therapeutics for neglected tropical diseases such as hookworm, schistosomiasis, Chagas disease, and tick-borne diseases. Dr. Bottazzi is widely recognized for her pivotal role in the co-development of an open science vaccine technology against COVID-19 that led to the development of Corbevax in India and IndoVac in Indonesia, and with approximately 100 million doses delivered. Throughout her career, Dr. Bottazzi has been a vocal advocate for equitable access to healthcare and vaccines, particularly for marginalized communities in low- and middle-income countries. She has collaborated with international organizations, governments, and non-profits to promote initiatives aimed at addressing health disparities and improving global health outcomes. Dr. Bottazzi is a member of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM), a Leshner Leadership Institute Public Engagement Fellow in Infectious Diseases of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) alumna. Dr. Bottazzi's dedication to scientific research, combined with her commitment to social responsibility, has earned her numerous accolades and honors. In 2023, she was awarded the Vilcek-Gold Award for Humanism in Healthcare and the Rachael Schneerson - John Robbins Prize. For three years in a row, Forbes selected Dr. Bottazzi as one of 100 Most Powerful Women in Central America and in 2022, alongside Dr. Peter Hotez, she was nominated by Texas Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher for the Nobel Peace Prize. She continues to inspire future generations of scientists through her mentorship and educational outreach efforts, fostering a legacy of excellence in the pursuit of improving health and well-being for all. Dr. Bottazzi obtained her bachelor’s degree in microbiology and clinical chemistry from the National Autonomous University of Honduras and a doctorate in Molecular Immunology and Experimental Pathology from the University of Florida. Her post-doctoral training in Cellular Biology was completed at University of Miami and Pennsylvania, where afterwards worked at the George Washington University prior to relocating to Texas.