France-BioImaging

Carolina Eliscovich, group leader at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, studies RNA biology with a focus on how mRNAs are spatially organized and regulated in tissues such as the liver.

Through the France-BioImaging Access Fund, she joined the Montpellier Resource Imaging facility and the Edouard Bertrand lab to apply sequential smFISH with an automated microfluidic system. Despite unexpected challenges, the collaboration enabled her to visualize, for the first time, multiple RNA species in regenerating mouse liver tissue.

She emphasizes how this unique opportunity provided unprecedented insights into gene expression heterogeneity in vivo, and highlights the generosity and expertise of the France-BioImaging teams, which made this breakthrough possible.

Hamed Abbasi, researcher at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, develops photonics-based technologies for oncological surgery, with a focus on fluorescence-guided approaches that provide surgeons with real-time tumor visualization.

Through the France-BioImaging Access Fund, he visited the PRIMACEN cell imaging platform in Normandy to perform near-infrared fluorescence lifetime imaging. Despite the technical challenges of working in this spectral range, the collaboration enabled him to generate robust proof-of-principle data.

These results were key to securing a Health~Holland grant to develop an advanced intraoperative fluorescence lifetime system, in partnership with industry. Hamed emphasizes both the cutting-edge infrastructure and the warm, supportive expertise of the PRIMACEN team, which made the collaboration scientifically decisive and personally enriching.

Maria Nazarova, a PhD student at the IGBMC in Strasbourg, investigates chromatin dynamics and how enhancers interact with promoters using live-cell imaging.

Through the France-BioImaging Access Fund, she joined the MRI-CRBM platform in Montpellier to explore Lattice Light Sheet microscopy as a way to reduce phototoxicity and follow transcriptional dynamics in mouse stem cells. Despite technical limitations with time resolution, the experience offered her valuable insights into the system’s potential and the challenges of multi-color live imaging.

She highlights the warm support and expertise of the MRI team, particularly Virginie Georget, and stresses how the stay not only broadened her technical understanding but also shaped the way she designs future experiments.

Atitheb Chaiyasitdhi, a research fellow at the University of Leicester, explores auditory mechanisms in insects, focusing on specialized sensory structures called chordotonal organs.

With support from France-BioImaging’s User Access program, he collaborated with the Imagerie-Gif platform to apply Focused Ion Beam Electron Microscopy (FIB-EM) to his study. This advanced technique enabled him to reconstruct the ultrastructure of the locust ear in 3D, achieving an unprecedented level of detail.

He highlights the responsiveness, expertise, and technical excellence of the platform, which made this remote collaboration both seamless and highly productive.