
October 14-15, 2024 | Austin, Minn. — On October 14 and 15, The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, hosted its inaugural Minnesota Bioimaging Symposium, which gathered experts from across the nation and world to connect, collaborate, and explore the latest developments and correlative techniques in the realm of bioimaging technology.
In science, seeing is often one of the first steps toward understanding. State-of-the-art bioimaging equipment allows researchers to study objects like viruses, cells, proteins, and tissues more closely and dynamically than ever before. The discoveries made possible by these technologies, in turn, can lead to new treatment options and preventative measures that benefit patients.
If one is looking for an ideal destination for a bioimaging conference, The Hormel Institute is a fitting place to do so. In 2016, the research facility installed a Titan Krios cryoEM microscope (one of the world’s most powerful microscopes), and this year, the Institute further expanded its already advanced bioimaging capabilities to include tomography with the acquisition of its The Thermo Fisher Scientific Arctis, a Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB-SEM)—the first that will be installed at an academic institution in North America.
“This is going to be an exciting day for many of our scientists to learn some new things about where we see the field going in the future in terms of bioimaging,” said Executive Director Robert Clarke, PhD, during his opening remarks on the Symposium’s opening day.

Shashank Priya, Vice President for the Research and Innovation Office (RIO), University of Minnesota, also welcomed attendees and introduced some of the long-term goals of The Hormel Institute’s Minnesota Bioimaging Center (MBiC), calling the center a “one-stop shop” for researchers, thanks to its state-of-the-art technology and supercomputing capabilities that are all on-site.
Over the course of two days, symposium speakers shared research progress made possible through bioimaging across a broad range of areas that included work on chronic-wasting-disease-causing prions, locating elusive virus proteins, and better understanding cancer metastasis—as well as bioimaging tools and resources available across University of Minnesota campuses.
Researchers were also able to present their work during a poster session and attend a technical workshop led by Thermo Fisher to better understand tomography (cryoET) techniques.
Keynote speakers included Dr. Peijun Zhang, Professor and Founding Director of eBIK (the UK National Electron Bio-imaging Centre), University of Oxford, and Dr. Hong Zhou, Professor and Founding Director of EICN (Electron Imaging Center for NanoMachines), University of California, Los Angeles.
Additional invited speakers included Yang Yang, PhD, Assistant Professor, Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University; Tina Tootle, PhD, Department of Executive Office/Chair, Department of Biology, University of Iowa; Luis Gimenez-Lirola, PhD, Associate Professor, Vet Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine, Iowa State University; Christopher Colbert, PhD, Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry, North Dakota State University; Natalie Young, PhD, Senior Product Specialist, Electron Microscopy Life Sciences, Thermo Fisher; Cynthia H. McCollough, PhD, Director, CT Clinical Innovation Center, Professor of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic; Stuart Lichtenberg, PhD, Senior Researcher, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Science, University of Minnesota; Mark Sanders, PhD, Program Director, University Imaging Centers, University of Minnesota; Bin Liu, PhD, Associate Professor, The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota.

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ABOUT THE HORMEL INSTITUTE
The Hormel Institute is an independent biomedical research department within the University of Minnesota’s Office of the Vice President for Research. Collaborative research partners include Masonic Cancer Center UMN (a Comprehensive Cancer Center as designated by the National Cancer Institute, NIH), Mayo Clinic, and many other leading research centers worldwide. The Hormel Institute, which tripled in size in 2008 and doubled again in size in 2016, is home to some of the world’s most cutting-edge research technologies and expert scientists. Over the next few years, The Hormel Institute will broaden its impact through innovative, world-class research in its quest to improve human health.