SFBS 2026: the programme expands with three new speakers
Three new invited speakers have been announced for SFBS 2026, further enriching the scientific programme dedicated to super-resolution microscopy for biological imaging.
Good news: the deadline for early bird registration and abstract submission has been extended to June 30, 2026! Apply here before June 30, 2026
Giuseppe Vicidomini
Dr Giuseppe Vicidomini obtained his degree in Computer Science in 2003 and completed his PhD in Computer Science in 2008, both at the University of Genoa under the supervision of Prof. Alberto Diaspro.
He subsequently joined the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of NanoBiophotonics, led by Prof. Stefan W. Hell, where he pioneered gated-STED microscopy, a single-photon temporal-detection approach that enabled nanometric resolution at reduced light doses, facilitating the widespread application of STED microscopy to live-cell imaging.
In 2011, he joined the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), where he further advanced STED microscopy by developing time-resolved approaches now implemented in all major commercial STED systems.
In 2016, Dr Vicidomini established the Molecular Microscopy and Spectroscopy (MMS) laboratory at IIT and launched an independent research programme based on single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array detectors. This work led to the establishment of photon-resolved microscopy, a new imaging paradigm that assigns spatial and temporal information to individual photons, enabling advances in super-resolution imaging, fluorescence lifetime microscopy, spectroscopy, and single-molecule analysis.
His research has generated multiple patents, technology licensing agreements, and the spin-off company Genoa Instruments, of which he is co-founder and scientific advisor. Established to commercialise photon-resolved microscopy technologies, Genoa Instruments is accelerating its adoption within the life-science community. In parallel, SPAD array detector concepts and methodologies developed in his laboratory have been incorporated into commercial microscopy platforms from Nikon, Abberior, and PicoQuant.
Dr Vicidomini was Principal Investigator of the ERC Consolidator Grant BrightEyes, which established the foundations of photon-resolved microscopy and enabled the development of a new generation of non-invasive imaging and spectroscopy tools for studying biomolecular processes in living systems. He currently leads the ERC Proof-of-Concept project BrightMind, which integrates photon-resolved microscopy with artificial intelligence and smart microscopy concepts to create adaptive imaging systems for autonomous data acquisition and information extraction.
Xiaoshuai Huang
Xiaoshuai Huang is a Principal Investigator at the Institute of Advanced Clinical Medicine, Peking University. He earned his B.S. from Wuhan University in 2013 and his Ph.D. from Peking University in 2018, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the same institution until 2020.
Dr. Huang’s research operates at the intersection of optical physics and cell biology, focusing on engineering next-generation super-resolution microscopy platforms to decode complex three-dimensional subcellular dynamics.
Since establishing his independent laboratory, he has systematically addressed the critical bottlenecks of live-cell volumetric imaging, specifically speed, axial resolution, reconstruction fidelity, and multimodal contrast. Under his leadership, the laboratory has developed flagship platforms such as 3D-MP-SIM and 4Pi-SIM, with landmark findings published as leading or co-corresponding author in premier journals including Nature Photonics, Nature Methods, and Nature Cell Biology.
Anne-Sophie Hafner
Dr Hafner studies the dynamic composition of synapses, the molecular basis of memory encoding in the brain.
Her lab uses omics-approaches combined with FACs-based synapse purification, as well as metabolic labelling, super-resolution, and live-imaging and also computational modeling to elucidate changes in synapse composition associated with learning, aging and diseases.
Recently, her lab identified a novel promising pathway that likely contributes to Alzheimer’s disease onset. In 2022, she received an ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council for her project MemCode, to investigate the mechanisms of long-term memory storage in the brain, and in 2026 an ERC proof of concept for her project OligoBlockers, to generate a new innovative therapy to stop Alzheimer’s disease progression at early stages.
Don’t miss this opportunity to meet these experts during SFBS 2026! Join us in Bordeaux from October 19 to 21, 2026!
Would you like to share your work at SFBS 2026? Good news: the abstract submission deadline has been extended! Apply before June 30, 2026 for a chance to give a talk or present a poster.
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