49th Annual Course in Cytometry

The 49th Annual Course in Cytometry brought the course back to San Diego, hosted by Sanford Burnham Prebys — as the 46th was in 2023 — and organized by Cytometry Educational Associates, Inc. The week featured in-depth lectures and hands-on lab sessions led by experts in the field who are as enthusiastic about education as they are about cytometry.

Course materials from 2026 remain available at the San Diego course website.

Agenda

Sunday, August 16 — Opening Day

Bldg 12

• 8:00 – 10:00 am   Registration & BreakfastBldg 12
• 10:00 – 10:15 am   Welcome & Introductions
• 10:15 – 10:45 am   Course HistoryKathy Muirhead, Ph.D.
• 10:45 – 11:30 am   Flow Cytometry BasicsRachael Sheridan, Ph.D.
• 11:30 am – 12:15 pm   Data AcquisitionMark Naivar
• 12:15 – 12:30 pm   Platinum Sponsor TalkIllumina
• 12:30 – 1:30 pm   Lunch
• 1:30 – 2:15 pm   FluorescenceKelly Lundsten
• 2:15 – 3:00 pm   Immunology BasicsJennifer Hope, Ph.D.
• 3:00 – 3:15 pm   Platinum Sponsor TalkCytek
• 3:15 – 3:45 pm   Coffee/Snack Break
• 3:45 – 4:30 pm   Flow Cytometry Staining Considerations: From Sample to DataStephanie Widmann
• 4:30 – 5:15 pm   Validation of an Intracellular Cytokine Staining Assay for Assessing T Cell Responses in Vaccine Clinical TrialsKatharine Schwedhelm
• 5:15 – 6:00 pm   Break
• 6:00 – 7:00 pm   Keynote Lecture: “A New Window into the Secret Life of T Cells”Miguel Reina Campos, Ph.D.
• 7:00 – 9:00 pm   Dinner & Vendor Show

Monday, August 17

Lectures: Bldg 12 · Lab: Bldg 6

• 9:00 – 9:45 am   Spectral Flow CytometryAnna Belkina, M.D., Ph.D.
• 9:45 – 10:30 am   Panel Design & ValidationLisa Nichols, Ph.D.
• 10:30 – 10:45 am   Platinum Sponsor TalkAgilent
• 10:45 – 11:15 am   Coffee/Snack Break
• 11:15 am – 12:00 pm   High Dimensional Data AnalysisJohn Quinn, Ph.D.
• 12:00 – 12:45 pm   QC & TroubleshootingDavid Leclerc
• 12:45 – 1:00 pm   Platinum Sponsor TalkBeckman Coulter
• 1:00 – 2:15 pm   Lunch & Group Photo
• 2:15 – 5:45 pm   Lab Session 1Bldg 6
• 5:45 pm onwards   Free Evening

Tuesday, August 18

Lectures: Bldg 12 · Lab: Bldg 6

• 9:00 – 9:45 am   Cell SortingRui Gardner, Ph.D.
• 9:45 – 10:00 am   Platinum Sponsor TalkBeckman Coulter
• 10:00 – 10:45 am   Imaging Flow CytometryDaniel Vocelle, Ph.D.
• 10:45 – 11:15 am   Coffee/Snack Break
• 11:15 am – 12:00 pm   Fundamental Non-immunophenotypic ApplicationsKathy Muirhead, Ph.D. & Michael Gregory, M.S.
• 12:00 – 12:45 pm   AI in Flow Data AnalysisJack Panopoulos, Ph.D.
• 12:45 – 1:00 pm   Platinum Sponsor TalkWaters Biosciences
• 1:00 – 2:00 pm   Lunch
• 2:00 – 5:30 pm   Lab Session 2Bldg 6
• 6:00 – 9:00 pm   Sunset Beach Dinner and BonfireLa Jolla Shores

Wednesday, August 19

Lectures: Bldg 12 · Lab: Bldg 6

• 9:00 – 9:45 am   Biosafety in Flow CytometryMichael Gregory
• 9:45 – 10:30 am   Rigor & ReproducibilityDagna Sheerar
• 10:30 – 10:45 am   Gold Sponsor TalkSony
• 10:45 – 11:30 am   Emerging Applications in CytometryDaniel Vocelle, Ph.D.
• 11:30 – 11:45 am   Group Photo
• 11:45 am – 12:30 pm   Lunch
• 12:30 – 4:00 pm   Lab Session 3Bldg 6
• 4:00 pm onwards   Free Afternoon & EveningVendor instrument demos

Thursday, August 20 — Closing Day

Lab: Bldg 6

• 9:30 am – 1:00 pm   Lab Session 4Bldg 6
• 1:00 – 2:00 pm   Lunch
• 2:00 – 5:30 pm   Lab Session 5Bldg 6
• 6:30 – 9:30 pm   Closing Reception

Labs

Fourteen hands-on labs were offered. Participants ranked all fourteen by preference and attended five, with assignments provided at registration.

• Advanced Cell Sorting

  Rui Gardner, Ph.D. · Michael Gregory · Alan Saluk

  Basic stream physics, optimized sorting parameters, and best-practice sample preparation, building an understanding of successful experimental design for cell sorting.

• Build a Flow Cytometer

  Mark Wilder · Travis Woods

  Students built a one-parameter flow cytometer from parts, finishing with a working instrument running fluorescent microspheres and time to fine-tune it toward a 1–1.5% C.V.

• Cell Preparation — Tissues & Tumors

  Jennifer Hope, Ph.D. · Hannah Hetrick

  Hands-on training in processing mouse tumor and spleen tissues into single-cell suspensions, comparing manual and enzymatic dissociation and tracing how technical variables such as temperature and enzyme cocktail change the final data. Techniques transfer to a wide range of other tissues.

• Core Management Workshop

  Alex Henkel

  A practical workshop for core facility directors and staff on the operational, financial, and scientific challenges of running a shared cytometry resource — service models, pricing, strategic planning and partnerships, and change management.

• Data Acquisition

  Mark Naivar · Jim Freyer, Ph.D.

  Using flow cytometer simulators to explore the factors that drive data quality: thresholding, PMT voltage, coincidence, aggregates, and sample throughput, plus instrument setup, calibration, and gating basics — all without cells or reagents.

• Basic Data Analysis

  Rachael Sheridan, Ph.D.

  An introduction to data scaling and plots, data and compensation QC, gating, and figure preparation, designed for those newer to analysis workflows and worked through in the browser-based CytoScribe software.

• High Dimensional Data Analysis

  John Quinn, Ph.D. · Jack Panopoulos, Ph.D.

  Computational approaches to preprocessing, quality control, dimensionality reduction, clustering, and population identification in high-parameter data, with hands-on work in FlowJo and Cytolytics and strategies for integrating AI into a human-directed workflow.

• Imaging Flow Cytometry

  Kathleen McGrath, Ph.D. · Daniel Vocelle, Ph.D.

  Independent hands-on tutorials spanning novice to advanced, run across three imaging platforms — ImageStream (ISX MarkII), FACSDiscover A8, and CytPix — comparing applications and analytical approaches between systems.

• Multicolor Immunophenotyping

  Lorena Hidalgo · Alexander Nicols, Ph.D.

  Designing, optimizing, and executing multicolor experiments to identify immune cell populations: instrument setup, staining strategies, compensation and spectral overlap, antibody titration, FMO/isotype/viability controls, and gating for innate and adaptive subsets.

• Nanovials Workshop

  Sean Maynard

  Hands-on introduction to Nanovial technology for cell–cell interaction studies — hydrogel microcontainers that co-localize defined cell pairs, capture functional readouts, and enable sorting on cell behavior.

• Panel Design

  Lisa Nichols, Ph.D. · Dagna Sheerar

  General rules for panel design — instrument choice, pairing fluorochromes with targets, controls, spillover spreading, fluorochrome similarity — followed by group work manually designing a 10–15 color panel and a demonstration of automated panel design platforms.

• QC & Troubleshooting

  David Leclerc · Bert Ladd

  Building a thorough understanding of the QC protocol and interpretation of QC results, a methodical approach to troubleshooting mechanical issues, and recognition of the most common instrument failure modes.

• Single Cell RNA Seq Workshop

  Rea Dabelic

  An interactive look at the Illumina single-cell RNA-Seq workflow, from sample preparation and microfluidics-free cell capture and barcoding through downstream clustering, cell-type identification, and differential expression.

• Spectral Flow Cytometry

  Anna Belkina, M.D., Ph.D. · Laura Prickett

  A dry lab on the design, setup, analysis, and troubleshooting of spectral experiments. Groups rotated among commercial platforms analyzing curated datasets, identifying unmixing problems and artifacts, and working through autofluorescence management strategies.

Sponsors

Platinum

• Illumina
• Cytek
• Agilent
• Beckman Coulter
• Waters Biosciences

Gold

• Sony

TBD: the complete sponsor roster to be added as records are compiled.

Venues

• Lectures — SBP Building 1210905 Road to the Cure, San Diego, CA 92121
• Labs — SBP Building 610901 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037