Membership Updates: ISAC ended 2008 with 1,780 members. The Membership Services Committee has set a goal of increasing membership by 5% in 2009. ISAC is in the process of renewing members for 2009. We are aware that hard-copy renewal notices did not reach many of you until January and we hope that you are in the process of renewing your membership for 2009. You can always renew your membership online by clicking here. ISAC is committed to growing the association, the field of Cytometry and we value the participation of long time ISAC members as well as new members.

Speaking of new members you may not be aware that in 2007 ISAC created the Asian Cytometry Taskforce. This new Taskforce chaired by Dr. Awtar Krishan is focused on increasing the recognition of ISAC, the ISAC Journal, and field of Cytometry across Asia. If you have a friend, colleague, or facility involved in Cytometry in Asia please contact me so the Taskforce can build its list of contacts and potential Journal contributors.

CYTO 2010: I hope you recently received the Save the Date announcement for CYTO 2010: ISAC’s 25th International Congress in Seattle, Washington, USA from May 7 to 11, 2010. Please check www.isac-net.org for more information as it becomes available. CYTO 2011 will take place in Baltimore, MD from May 20-25, 2011. I look forward to seeing you at our meetings!

ISAC Website: The ISAC website continues to grow in popularity and usage. As we look to the start of the next decade, how can ISAC’s website become more interactive and useful for all members of the Cytometry community? We want to hear from you, please feel free to email me at toddp@isac-net.org with ideas on improving ISAC’s website.

Financial Planning for Annual Meetings

Alex Nakeff (caralex3@comcast.net)
Todd Philbrick (toddp@isac-net.org)

The 2008 ISAC Congress in Budapest, Hungary was a great success. This was the result of the hard work of a superb scientific organizing committee led by Dr. Robert Murphy, in conjunction with the Congress organizing effort by FASEB through the professional leadership of Geri Swindle and later by Marcella Jackson. The Congress highlighted the most important current hardware and software advances in all areas of cytometry, including the critical role cytometry is playing in the growing field of systems biology.

The 2008 Congress resulted in a net loss of $10,000, which was significantly less than the loss expected in the budget prepared. The Budapest Sports Arena was a reasonable venue, however, costs at the Arena were dramatically higher than previous Congress venues. The very high costs were mostly offset by record levels of sponsorship income, leading to only a small loss overall.

Beginning in 2010, ISAC Congresses will take place annually furthering the need for detailed financial planning. The Finance Committee and FASEB management is in the process of creating budgets for all future Congresses. This new paradigm has created an organizational and financial "blueprint" and standard for ensuring the financial success for all future Congresses while, at the same time, maintaining lower registration fees to both encourage participation of more of our young ISAC members and increase ISAC membership. This new paradigm addressed previous concerns regarding financial barriers associated with holding annual Congresses. Annual Congresses are a key Strategic Initiative aimed to increase the value of membership in ISAC. Initiatives are underway to create a five-year annual Congress planning cycle that will bring ISAC more in line with most other international scientific societies that have successfully sponsored annual meetings in various parts of the world.

Scientific Communication Committee (SCC) - New Formation

Andreas Radbruch, Chair (radbruch@drfz.d)

In 2008 the ISAC Council appointed me as successor to Fred Waldman as new Chair of the Scientific Communication Committee (SCC). My current position is Scientific Director of the German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ), Germany. My main research fields include the molecular basis of immunological memory, control of autoimmunity, cytokine gene expression, technologies of flow cytometry and cell sorting.

I would warmly like thank all previous and new members of the SCC, namely Fred Waldman, Andrea Cossarizza, Harry Crissman, Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz, Mario Roederer, Robert Murphy (ex-officio), and Paul J. Smith (ex-officio) for having served or currently serving on the Committee. I hope in the next two years to build on Fred’s successes as previous chair on the SCC. In that vein, the main focus of the SCC will be to provide advice to ISAC Council regarding publications of the Society, the journal and the website. Our activities are based on the goals formulated in the strategic plan, which were presented at the 2008 ISAC Council Meeting in Budapest. They can be summarized as follows:

Provide advice for further improving the quality and visibility of the Society’s journal Cytometry Apart A in close cooperation with Attila Tarnok as Editor-in-Chief.
Provide advice for further improving the quality and visibility of ISAC’s website including of the E-News.
Oversee scientific publication activities of the Society.
These activities are key elements within the common duties and responsibilities of the SCC, such as:
Monitor the application of all Society editorial policies by editors of the Society’s journals
Review nominations for Editors and for Members of Editorial Boards of the Society’s scientific publication and submit to Council for approval.
Review contractual and fiscal matters relating to Society’s publications.
Verify that the Society’s publications are in compliance with contractual obligations.
Create the Society’s publications budgets for submission to the Finance Committee.
Annually review performance of the Editors of the scientific publications to recommend to Council approval of reappointment.
Search for replacement of an Editor, when necessary, and make recommendations to Council for a successor.
Provide support to Editors.
Approve the number of persons who serve on Editorial Boards. (Editorial Board Members shall serve four years with the possibility of reappointment).
Annually obtain form the Editor-in-Chief the names of persons to fill vacant positions on the Board and forward to names to Council for approval.
Annually review the Society’s journal policy and present any modifications to Council for approval.

Finally, I would like to encourage all members of the Society to provide the SCC with criticisms, comments or suggestions that would help increase the visibility of our Society and to improve its public image within the international scientific community.

COUNCIL OF ISAC ASSOCIATE SOCIETIES

Janos Szöllösi, Chair (szollo@dote.hu)
Jan Gratama, Co-chair (j.w.gratama@erasmusmc.nl)

As the largest professional organization worldwide in the field of cytometry, ISAC seeks ways to improve its contacts with other regional, national and international organizations in the field.

What ISAC can offer to associate societies and interest groups:

information transfer
supporting small cytometry societies with the ISAC brand name
forming a common interest group at various scientific forums
forming a common interest group at the levels of education, quality control, safety procedures, etc.
What associate societies and interest groups may offer to ISAC:
information transfer
supporting ISAC in organizing its international meetings by sending its members and participating in the organizing committee through representatives
forming a common interest group at various scientific forums
forming a common interest group at the levels of education, quality control, safety procedures, etc.

Activity completed in the last year (2008)

Roster of “ISAC-Associate Societies” has been updated with 29 member societies (6 societies are US based, 23 societies are international societies). Eight societies, which were not associated with ISAC, have been approached to apply for the status of “ISAC-Associate Society” or “ISAC-Associate Interest Group”.
ISAC Council has approved the criteria for the status of “ISAC-associated interest groups” for those organizations that are interested to interact with ISAC, but do not fulfill the criteria required for the status of “ISAC-Associate Societies”.
At the XXIV ISAC Congress In Budapest we had the most successful meeting of the Council of ISAC Associate Societies ever. We had 38 participants and developed an action plan:
- Use the European Cytometry network for strengthening the connections between ISAC Associate Societies.
- Maintain and strengthen contact with South/Southeast Asian region, China, Japan.
- Organize conference calls among the ISAC Associate Societies when issues demand it. (e.g. to help organizing the scientific content of the ISAC XXV Congress in Seattle.)
- Maintain contacts between ISAC and representatives of ISAC-Associate Societies. Societies will be asked to send a representative to the program committee of ISAC 2010. This will be the major task of the council in the next six months.
- Introduce the national societies to the ISAC membership through the ISAC E-News. This project is ongoing. In the latest e-newsletter the European Cytometry Network was introduced.

Cytometry Part A, Lecture and Teaching Tour India 2009

Attila Tárnok, Editor (tarnok@medizin.uni-leipzig.de)

I would like to inform you about the ongoing activities of the Journal Cytometry, Part A to promote and support quantitative single cell analysis. A faculty of experts in flow and image cytometry promoted science and research of quantitative single cell analysis at different research centers in India in February, 2009. A major goal was tobring the official scientific journal Cytometry to a broad audience. We supported local scientists in writing cytometry focused manuscripts and making them aware of standards for data presentation. Furthermore, the newly published textbook "Cellular Diagnostics" was introduced and supplied free to eligible candidates.

Our web site contains more information about our promotional and teaching activity for cytometry and Cytometry Part A is available where you can read more and see a picture gallery. For more information go to: www.tissomics.de/neu/mail/lecture_and_teaching_tour_india_2009.htm

CLIA Manual Update

Mike Keeney (Mike.Keeney@LHSC.ON.CA)

Representatives from ISAC and CCS have been working on an updated Flow Cytometry CLIA Compliance Manual for members of the two societies. There are extensive changes, particularly in the area of Quality Assessment. This document should prove useful to flow cytometry laboratories. At the most recent ISAC Council meeting, there was unanimous agreement that this document should be made freely available to registered members of ISAC and/or CCS. The Manual will be available shortly by logging into ISAC's website as a member.

Biosafety Issues - Biohazard Sorting Update

Stephen Perfetto (sperfetto@mail.nih.gov)
Kevin Holmes (kholmes@niaid.nih.gov)

In 2007, the ISAC Biosafety Committee published standards for sorting unfixed cells (Cytometry Part A 71A:414–437, 2007). This document is based on the following practices and procedural advances:

Advances in cell sorter technology made high-speed cell sorting more prevalent and changed the biohazard potential of cell sorting experiments.
New and less expensive options for personal protection of operators have become available.
Instrument manufacturers responded to the need for improved operator protection and have introduced instrumentation containing novel safety features.
New safety attachments for cell sorters have become commercially available.
With the availability of easier to operate sorters more laboratories have incorporated cell sorting, but often do not have dedicated operators to perform cell sorting experiments.
Simpler, bead-based techniques for measuring the efficiency of aerosol containment during cell sorting have been developed.
Advances in cell biology have increased the need for live infectious cell sorting for cell culture and experiments involving molecular genetics.

These standards and procedures are strongly recommended for the flow cytometry community conducting infectious cell sorting experiments. It is important to note that assignment of appropriate procedures and practices for samples with variable and sometimes complex levels of potential biohazard risk such as genetically engineered cell preparations and a variety of unfixed but “pre-tested” samples, still remain in debate. Currently, the ISAC Biosafety Committee together with a special NIH Safety Committee and the ABSA (American Biological Safety Association) are involved in updating the current standards. A primary goal for these groups is to clarify the risk assessment procedures for the assignment of biosafety practices when sorting ‘questionable’ samples, i.e. to match engineering controls with potential risk. Furthermore, these updates provide a foundation for modernizing the risk assessment to reflect the present knowledge and occupational safety practices as outlined in CDC document, BMBL (Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, 2007, 5th ed.) (see, http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/biosfty/bmbl5/bmbl5toc.htm).

What has changed. In 2009 the most common procedure for measuring aerosol containment is the Fluorescent Glo-Germ procedure, see section c. This procedure has replaced the more complex bacteriophage procedure, see section b.

The importance of PPE (personal protection equipment), especially respirator protection is unchanged, but for laboratories utilizing PAPR (powered air purifying respirator) devices there is a new model of PAPR helmet system, which offers novel design features of import (MaxAir Systems, BMDI, Irvine, CA). This NIOSH-approved system consists of a HEPA filter hood with face shield attached to a light-weight helmet based fan resulting in a hose-free PAPR system. Combined with a full body Tyvek suit, this system provides full body protection and increased mobility.

What is the future. Assessment of containment in cell sorters: Although the GloGerm procedures offers many advantages for determination of aerosol containment, alternative methodology is being investigated which would provide more standardized and quantifiable measurements of containment. This includes the potential use of small particle counters based upon existing aerosol counting technologies.

Remote Monitoring of cell sorters: The ability to remotely monitor and operate cell sorters located in BSL3 laboratories is very advantageous. Although the use of commercially available LAN-based remote PC operation is currently being used, the ability to utilize thin client server based systems would locate much of the hardware (disk drives, CPU) outside of the BSL3 laboratory, providing for better and more reliable backup procedures, as well as remote operation or monitoring using CCD cameras.

Instrument Designs: The manufacturers of cell sorters have become more aware of the need to address aerosol containment in the design of their instruments. Cell sorters have been designed with engineering controls for aerosol containment and/or evacuation and can be housed within Biological Safety cabinets or HEPA filtered air enclosures. Instrument manufacturers must recognize the risks involved with sorting of unfixed samples and incorporate effective aerosol evacuation systems together with the ability to be housed within a Class II BSC.

What remains the same. While many and perhaps the majority of the unfixed organisms sorted in a flow cytometer facility are assigned to BSL-2 risk levels, it is important to realize that the possibility of aerosol generation during cell sorting raises the risk level to BSL-3. Hence, safety standards must be in place before sorting such samples with a high degree of infectious risk. Therefore, the following remain constant in these procedures.

Sorters should be placed in a BSL-3 facility with engineering controls as outlined by the CDC in the BMBL, 5th ed., 2007 (see above). Alternatively, for facilities without BSL3 laboratory space, sorting may be performed within BSL2 laboratories utilizing BSL3 practices. However, careful risk assessment must be conducted by biosafety personnel according to the type of organisms present in the samples. The risk level will determine if samples can be safely sorted under these conditions.
Operators must wear appropriate PPE, including respirator protection in the form of N-95, N-99 or N-100 respirators or PAPR’s, gloves, face shield, and lab coats or protective bio-suit at all times. Ideally, operators should be outside of the BSL-3 laboratory.
Sorters must be engineered with an aerosol evacuation system and this must be on throughout the sort.
Operators must have procedures in place to maintain and test the aerosol evacuation system.
Records must be maintained to show the aerosol evacuation system is functioning normally

Joint ISAC/CCS/ESCCA Meeting

Mike Keeney (Mike.Keeney@LHSC.ON.CA)

This one day session is designed to appeal to basic and translational scientists in addition to physicians and medical technologists working in the field of flow or image cytometry. The morning will focus primarily on stem cells, their microenvironment, and the mechanisms that affect their survival and differentiation. A group of expert speakers will cover the field from basic concepts to clinical applications in this exciting area.

Two luncheon workshops will focus on practical issues in the design and implementation of high complexity flow cytometry assays and issues related to analyzing the highly complex data sets that result from these experiments. The afternoon session focuses on cell cycle and cell signaling and will again cover basic science, translational and state of the art clinical applications. The evening session will honor one of the pioneers in flow cytometry and will include a special reception in their honor.

Sponsorships for this meeting are welcome and are being sought. Please contact Todd Philbrick, ISAC Executive Director at toddp@isac-net.org

Associate Society News

At regular intervals we feature one of the ISAC Associate Societies. Submissions are welcome!

The Australasian Flow Cytometry Group (AFCG),

Grace Chojnowski (Grace.Chojnowski@qimr.edu.au)
Kathy Heel (kathy.heel@uwa.edu.au)

G’Day to all our ISAC colleagues! So what is happening in the land downunder in 2009?

The Australasian Flow Cytometry Group has been active since 1979 with annual scientific meetings held across both Australia and New Zealand endeavoring to share and promote knowledge in flow cytometry amongst its members and 2009 will be no exception. We will be holding our meeting this year in sunny Queensland which is beautiful one day and perfect the next.

The AFCG meetings attract attendees from all over the globe especially many ISAC members coming from both Europe and the US. So mark your calendars for the 32nd AFCG meeting which will be held November 1st - 4th 2009 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, in Brisbane, Queensland for more details please contact grace.chojnowski@qimr.edu.au or go to http://www.afcg.org.au/home.asp for the latest details.

There will also be a four day flow cytometry methods workshop held at QIMR just prior to the meeting October 28th – October 31st. For further details please contact grace.chojnowski@qimr.edu.au

The AFCG will also be bringing together a number of incentives this year with a half day workshop during the AFCG meeting “train the trainer” to help train other flow cytometry operators especially those who are working in third world countries in our region.
The clinical standards committee will are also hard work this year improving the AFCG method guidelines.

We look forward to seeing many of you in November.

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Elects New Members of the College of Fellows, 3 ISAC Members Included

Washington, DC– The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) announced the election of 96 new members of the College of Fellows. Among the 96 inductees are 3 members of ISAC, Bruce Bagwell, for his valuable contributions to technology and education in the field of complex data analysis for research and clinical flow cytometry, Wolfgang Göhde, for pioneering contributions to the development of inexpensive flow cytometers for developing countries, and Leonore A. Herzenberg, for pioneering work in flow cytometry data management and analysis of lymphocyte development and function. Recipients were recognized at a formal induction ceremony in Washington, D.C. on February 12, 2009.

Upcoming Meetings/Conferences/User Groups/Courses

March 12 - 14, 2009, Northwest Regional Cytometry Meeting. The 2009 Northwest Regional Cytometry Meeting will be held March 12 14 at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. The schedule includes a Flow Informatics and Computational Cytometry Society meeting on March 13 and a clinically-oriented program on March 14. In addition, events over the three days include two FloCyte Training Institute courses, vendor talks on March 13, and a Flow Cytometry Workshop for Middle and High School Teachers on March 14. Speakers on March 14, including Jeannine Holden, Maurice OGorman, and Paul Smith, will discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of current cytometric approaches to characterizing disease. The conference ends with a reception on the evening of March 14. Further information on the FICCS meeting can be obtained at http://www.ficcs.org (no registration required). Registration for the FloCyte courses is at http://www.flocyte.org (registration and fee required). Registration for the NWRCM clinical session (free) is sending a note to nwrcytometrym@gmail.com .

March 12-13, 2009, Advanced Flow Course, Seattle. The Northwest Regional Cytometry group has again invited FloCyte Regional Training Institute to present two days of advanced flow courses, the Multiparameter and Compensation Course, and debut a new Data Analysis course, both taught by Dr. Timothy Bushnell of U Rochester. These will be held at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, in conjunction with (and scheduled the two days before) the Northwest Regional Cytometry meeting (see above). For those attending the meeting, there will be a discount for the tuition! Watch for details at www.FloCyte.org

March 25-26, 2009. Flow Cytometric Color Compensation course to be held at the Centre for Life, Newcastle UK. Run by Ian Dimmick and Rebecca Stewart, this two day hands on course introduces newcomers to cytometry, the essentials needed to plan, run and interpret a successful multicolor flow cytometric experiment.

June 1, 2009. Annual Immunophenotyping of Leukemia and Lymphoma meeting, Royal College of Physicians, London. Organized by Ricardo Morilla, this popular meeting concentrates on developments in diagnostic procedures. There is a need to focus on the continuous training of operators and scientists particularly due to the recent evolution of instrumentation, lasers, fluorochromes and applications in the clinical laboratory. The aim of the meeting is to discuss the main aspects of the use of flow cytometry for immunophenotyping. The meeting will be of interest to both people who are new in the field and those with some experience, including scientists, technicians, doctors and trade representatives. Details may be found at: www.flowcytometryuk.org

June 23 -26, 2009. Flow Course at the Technology Facility, University of York organized by Peter O’Toole. An intensive, hands-on, four-day training course in the varied techniques using flow cytometry. The course will initially cover basic flow cytometry but then rapidly move on to the more advanced applications. These will include cell cycle, apoptosis, cell proliferation, GFP and other fluorescent proteins, FRET and receptor quantification. The course has been designed to allow the participant to gain experience of what a flow cytometer is capable and to raise awareness of the problems that can be encountered. To demonstrate each technique, a wide range of both samples (plants to cell culture) and labels (antibody to fluorescent proteins) will be used. Participants are welcome to bring their own samples. Details may be found at: www.flowcytometryuk.org

July 1-2, 2009. Practical Applications of Flow Cytometry, Imperial College, London. Organised by Niga Nawroly. This short course is aimed at beginners in flow cytometry and covers the basics of machine operation and some of the major applications. There is also opportunity to gain practical experience with a range of hardware. Details may be found at: www.flowcytometryuk.org

July 15-17, 2009. flowcytometryUK holds its second National meeting at Keble College, Oxford, UK. The conference will highlight advances in flow and image instrumentation, high content screening, cancer and stem cell biology, applications of clinical cytometry and the development of novel probes and approaches in many areas of biomedical research. Confirmed plenary speakers include Ger van den Engh (Seattle, USA), Paul Smith (Cardiff, UK), Bill Telford (NIH, USA), David Hedley (Ontario, Canada) and Austin Smith (Cambridge, UK). Delegates from clinical, research and industrial fields are invited to submit both oral and poster abstracts. The deadline for poster abstracts 1 April 2009 There will be a large commercial exhibition. Further information including abstract submission details: http://www.flowcytometryuk.org/html/flowcytometryuk2009.html Registration details: http://www.rms.org.uk/form_flowcambridge07.html. Contact: Derek Davies, derek.davies@cancer.org.uk

August 30 - September 4, 2009. Annual Clinical Course on Flow & Image Cytometry. The twenty first course will be held in The Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York. It takes a practical approach to training participants in clinical flow cytometry using hands-on laboratory and computer work in small groups to supplement lectures. The emphasis of the course will be divided between basic flow theory, current practice in the clinical laboratory, flow cytometric diagnosis of leukemia & lymphoma, and frontiers for the future. The Course will be limited to approximately 45 participants. For information please check www.roswellpark.org/FlowCytometry2009. To register or to be placed on a mailing for additional information please contact: Marilyn Price, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Department of Flow & Image Cytometry, Elm & Cartlon Streets, Buffalo, NY 14263. Or call: (716) 845-8471, and e-mail: Marilyn.Price@RoswellPark.org

September 3-8, 2009. 2^nd Turkey-US Flow Cytometry Workshop, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey. Focus areas will include cell cycle and proliferation, apoptosis, applications of cytometry in transplantation and recent advances in cytometry. Contacts for additional information: Dr. Emel Eksioglu-Demiralp, Faculty of Medicine, Marmara University (demiralp@marmara.edu.tr) and Dr. Awtar Krishan, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida (AKrishan@med.miami.edu)

September 6-9, 2009. 11th International Conference on Methods and Applications of Fluorescence: Spectroscopy, Imaging and Probes in Budapest, Hungary. The venue of the Conference is the Congress Center of the oldest Hungarian University, the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE - address: H-1117, Budapest, Pázmány Péter sétány 1) located right on the bank of river Danube. This wonderful campus offers an excellent environment for a successful scientific meeting. Abstract deadline is 15 April 2009. The previous meetings of the MAF Conference series have acquired high international reputation and a gradually increasing number of participants (over 300 in Salzburg, 2007). All the meetings provided a successful platform for novel fluorescence-based research. For additional details go to: http://www.maf11.hu

November 1-4, 2009. Australasian Flow Cytometry Group will meet at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, in Brisbane, Queensland. For more details please contact grace.chojnowski@qimr.edu.au or go to http://www.afcg.org.au/home.asp for the latest details. There will also be a four day flow cytometry methods workshop held at QIMR just prior to the meeting October 28th – October 31st. For further details please contact grace.chojnowski@qimr.edu.au

FloCyte Courses. The following cytometry training courses are being offered by FloCyte. Additional information on each course can be found at www.FloCyte.org.

March 12-13, 2009: Advanced Flow Courses, Seattle, Washington. The Northwest Regional Cytometry group.
April 20- 24, 2009: Comprehensive week of Flow Cytometry, Bethesda, Maryland. The FDA at NIH is sponsoring this course.
April 29- May 2, 2009: Comprehensive Flow Cytometry Course, Duarte, California. The City of Hope is sponsoring this course.
May 13-15, 2009: Comprehensive Flow Cytometry Course, Macalester College, St Paul, Minnesota.
May 15, 2009: Intracellular Flow, Duarte, California. City of Hope is hosting.
June 30 - July 2, 2009: Comprehensive Flow Course, Dublin, Ireland. Dr. Alfonso Blanco Fernandez, of University College Dublin, is hosting.
July 13-14, 2009: Intracellular Flow and Data Analysis courses, Oxford, UK. flowcytometryUK 2009 is the sponsor.
Fall 2009: Comprehensive Flow Course, Milano, Italy. The third flow training at H. San Raffaele, in Milano, Italy, will be hosted by Alessio Palini.