webinars

From two-dimensional to three-dimensional histopathology using a Compresstome®

Original webinar date: July 12, 2022

Terence Tsz Wai Wong received his B.Eng. and M.Phil. degrees both from the University of Hong Kong in 2011 and 2013, respectively. He studied Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) and Medical Engineering at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), under the tutelage of Prof. Lihong V. Wang (member of the National Academy of Engineering and Inventors) for his Ph.D. degree. Right after his Ph.D. graduation, he joined the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE). He is also the Director of the HKUST Research Center for Medical Imaging and Analysis (CMIA).  With the integration of optical/photoacoustic imaging and deep-learning algorithms, his research focuses on developing smart optical and photoacoustic devices to enable label-free and high-speed histological imaging, three-dimensional whole-organ imaging, and low-cost cancer-targeting deep-tissue imaging. He is an author or co-author of over 50 publications in top peer-reviewed journals (including Nature Photonics, Nature Methods, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Advanced Science, etc), conference papers, and book chapters, and has five U.S. patents.

In this webinar, Dr. Wong shares how he built a custom-made Compresstome® for high-speed histological 3D imaging of whole organs like brains.

Using the Compresstome® in Immunotherapy Research

Original webinar date: May 23, 2022

Dr Astero Klampatsa (PhD) is a Team Leader in Cancer Immunotherapy at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK and a Senior Lecturer in King’s College London, UK. She was awarded a PhD in Research Oncology (focused in mesothelioma apoptotic and hypoxia pathways) from Queen Mary’s College, University of London, UK. As a postdoctoral fellow, she gained expertise in CAR T cell immunotherapy and immunobiology of thoracic cancers at King’s College London, UK, and at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Since 2019, Dr Klampatsa has been leading her own team, the Thoracic Oncology Immunotherapy Group, focusing on developing novel CAR T cell therapies for mesothelioma and lung cancer, as well as the immunobiology of these malignancies for identification of markers of response to immunotherapy.

In this webinar, Dr. Klampatsa will discuss how the Compresstome® was used to create precision-cut tumor slices (PCTS) as an ex vivo model for immunotherapy research.

“3D” use of animal tissues in experimental design

Original webinar date: March 1, 2022

Have you wondered how one mouse brain may be used for multiple experiments? Come discover the strategy behind using animal tissues for multi-use research experiments, so that your tissue samples can go further.

Dr. Yiying Zhang from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital is our guest webinar speaker.

Dr. Yiying Zhang has been studying neuropathogenesis, anesthesia neurotoxicity, anesthesia/surgery toxicity, postoperative neurocognitive disorder and postoperative delirium (POD) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) since 2009. Specifically, she has studied the effects of anesthetics on mitochondrial function in vitro and in vivo, as well as the potential association between neuroinflammation and mitochondrial function following the anesthesia and/or surgery. Recently, Dr. Zhang has focused on studying potential gut microbiota-neuroinflammation-mitochondria cascade in the pathogenesis of POD. For this Precisionary webinar, Dr. Zhang will discuss a “3D” use of animal tissues in planning experimental designs in academic research.

Making precision-cut tissue slices for ex vivo assay services

Original webinar date: September 14, 2021

Have you wondered about how to make precision-cut tissue slices and their experimental applications? Precisionary Instruments has worked with Visikol, a contract research services company focused on leveraging advanced imaging, 3D cell culture assays and digital pathology to accelerate the drug discovery and development process. In this webinar, Visikol experts explain the need for in vitro liver models to study livery injury. Our guest speakers demonstrate the standard assay format for creating precision-cut liver slices (PCLS), explain how the Compresstome® VF-310-0Z vibrating microtome helps create uniform tissue slices that can be meaningfully compared between treatments, go through how to use the Compresstome® step-by-step for making PCLS, and discuss how slices are made from normal human liver tissue, diseased human liver tissue, and mouse model liver.

Using electrophysiological methods to examine e-cigarette flavors’ effect on dopamine neuron function

Original webinar date: July 6, 2021

Dr. Henderson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. He received a BS (with distinction) in Chemistry at The Ohio State University, where he started research, initially as an Analytical Chemist in the lab of Dr. John Olesik. He went on to receive his PhD in Pharmacology at The Ohio State University in the lab of Dr. Dennis McKay. Afterwards, his professional journey continued his development as a NIDA-NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology in the lab of Dr. Henry Lester. Before starting his faculty position at Marshall University, Dr. Henderson also trained as a visiting postdoctoral fellow at Yale University (under Dr Nii Addy and Dr. Marina Picciotto).

In addition to his responsibilities at Marshall University, Dr. Henderson is now one of two co-Chairs for the Basic Science Network in the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (www.SRNT.org).

The Henderson lab focuses on the role tobacco and vaping flavors play in addiction-related behaviors. Thus far, we have shown that menthol and green apple flavors can enhance nicotine vapor self-administration and do so by directly altering dopamine neurons in the midbrain.

Reflections on a decade of patching in adult brain slices

Original webinar date: March 22, 2021

Jonathan T. Ting is an Assistant Investigator at the Allen Institute, where he joined in 2013 to provide electrophysiology expertise for the Human Cell Types program, and to develop functional assays on human ex vivo brain slides. Dr. Ting has more than 15 years of experience in patch clamp electrophysiology. He studied the neural circuitry basis of psychiatric disorders during his postdoctoral fellowships at Duke University and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, and he developed and characterized several transgenic mouse lines now widely employed for nervous system research involving optogenetics.

For this webinar, Dr. Ting provides reflections of his experience on a decade of patching adult brain slices. He will:

• Discuss which key steps in the brain slice process is most important and why
• Challenge our conventional beliefs of slicing solutions and methodologies
• Recommend tips and tricks based on his experience and research