Applications open for annual hands-on cryo-EM data workshop

ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute will lead a five-day cryo-electron microscopy workshop in June to introduce participants to common image processing software packages.

Titled “I have my dataset — now what?”, this is the second annual cryo-EM workshop led by LSI faculty members Michael Cianfrocco, Ph.D. and Melanie Ohi, Ph.D.

Recent technological developments in microscopes, cameras, and computation have led to a “resolution revolution” in the field of cryo-EM, making it possible to determine 3-D structures below a three-angstrom resolution.

The focus of the program — which runs Sunday, June 16 to Thursday, June 20 — introduces participants to common image processing packages used to analyze cryo-EM data. This is a hands-on opportunity where trainees will work with instructors to learn how to independently use cryo-EM software packages including RELION, cisTEM, cryoSPARC, SPHIRE, and the modeling system Phenix.

Prior experience analyzing cryo-EM data will be helpful as the course is focused on providing participants with practical data processing experience.

The workshop is co-sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific, the manufacturer of the four cryo-EM microscopes used at the LSI’s world-class facility. Since its introduction ten years ago, the Thermo Scientific Krios cryo-EM system has proven its ability to visualize three-dimensional structures with near-atomic resolution. This has enabled researchers globally to begin unravelling the complex relationships between structure and function at the molecular and atomic levels.

Guest lecturers include Xiaochen Bai, UT Southwestern; Alexis Rohou, Genentech; Ali Punjani, University of Toronto; Stefan Raunser, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology; and Paul Adams, University of California, Berkeley.

The workshop is open to investigators, staff, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students from any institution and to industry researchers. There are spots for up to 35 participants.

Costs for the workshop are $1,300 for academics and $1,700 for industry scientists, based on a shared, double-occupancy room and includes some meals.