Since 1978
The Annual Course in Cytometry has been held every summer since 1978, with the exception of a two-year pause in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below is a timeline of milestones tracing the course through five institutional homes over nearly five decades. If you have records, photos, or memories from earlier courses, please reach out.
1978–1982
The Annual Course in Cytometry is founded at the University of Rochester, establishing what will become a nearly unbroken, five-decade tradition of community-led cytometry education. By the 4th Annual Course (1982), the program spans lectures and hands-on labs in single- and two-color immunofluorescence, DNA/cell-cycle analysis, chromosome analysis by flow cytometry, and rare-event analysis. Faculty include Kathy Muirhead, Alan Waggoner, Paul Horan, Jim Leary, Noel Warner, Mike Loken, Bruce Bagwell, Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz, Phil Dean, and Scott Cram.
1983–1988
The course moves to Los Alamos National Flow Cytometry Resource (NFCR) in partnership with the Philadelphia-area SmithKline & French (SKF) site, expanding the program’s reach and instrumentation resources.
1989–2010
The course establishes a long-running home split between Los Alamos NFCR and Bowdoin College in Maine, with Verity Software House serving as a hosting partner for the Bowdoin courses. By the 16th Annual Course at Los Alamos (1993), the curriculum had grown to include immunophenotyping, apoptosis, calcium signaling, chromosome sorting with FISH, leukemia analysis, and special evening sessions on emerging technologies such as DNA sequencing and fragment sizing by flow cytometry. Faculty included Larry Seamer, Larry Sklar, Alan Waggoner, Bruce Bagwell, Gary Salzman, Harry Crissman, Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz, Carl Stewart, Peter Rabinovitch, Scott Cram, Ken Bauer, Greg Stelzer, and Nigel Carter. At the 25th Annual Course at Bowdoin (2002), the program expanded to a pick-a-lab format with 12 specialized labs covering topics from chromosome analysis and advanced sorting to aquatic flow cytometry, bead assays, and quantitative cytometry. Faculty included John Martin, Alice Givan, Joe Trotter, Jake Jacobberger, Scott Cram, David Hedley, John Nolan, and Paul Wallace.
2011–2018
The course moves to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque while continuing alternating years at Bowdoin College. The 34th Annual Course at UNM (2011) features 20 lectures and 14 pick-a-labs covering high-level multiparameter immunophenotyping, apoptosis, cell signaling, probability state modeling, high-throughput screening, microparticles, and fluorescent protein analysis and sorting. The keynote is delivered by Ger van den Engh. Faculty include Jim Jett, Alan Waggoner, David Novo, Bruce Bagwell, Joe Trotter, Bob Hoffman, James Freyer, Paul Wallace, Bill Telford, Larry Sklar, Vince Shankey, Kathy Muirhead, Jake Jacobberger, David Galbraith, John Nolan, and Scott Cram.
2019
The 42nd Annual Course marks the first time the course is hosted at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, opening the current chapter in the course’s history. The program features 21 lectures covering spectral flow cytometry, mass cytometry, microvesicles, advanced compensation, chromosome sorting and genomics, fluorescent proteins, and imaging-flow integration, plus 15 pick-a-labs. The keynote is delivered by Aleksandar Stanic-Kostic. Faculty include Jennifer Wilshire, Kathy Muirhead, Joe Tario, David Hedley, Bruce Bagwell, Joe Trotter, Joanne Lannigan, Dagna Sheerar, William Telford, Fred Preffer, Monica DeLay, Michelle Poulin, Scott Cram, David Galbraith, Kathleen McGrath, James Freyer, Paul Wallace, and Vince Shankey.
2020–2021
For the first time since its founding, the Annual Course does not run due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 course is also cancelled.
2022
The 45th Annual Course, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, marks the resumption of the in-person tradition after the two-year COVID-19 pause.
2023
The course comes to San Diego for the first time — the nation’s third-largest biotech hub. Hosted by Sanford Burnham Prebys, August 12–17, 2023. Keynote by Julie Burel, La Jolla Institute for Immunology.
2024
Hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, June 8–13, 2024. Keynote by Jonathan Irish.
2025
Hosted by Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 13–17, 2025.
2026
The course returns to San Diego, August 16–20, 2026, hosted jointly by Sanford Burnham Prebys and La Jolla Institute for Immunology.
