France BioImaging primary mission is to develop, promote, disseminate and provide access to innovative instruments and imaging technologies in the field of bioimaging to scientists. Fostering the technological transfers is at the heart of this mission, and for this France BioImaging relies on a strong association of leading R&D research teams with core facilities.

However, several bottlenecks exist and often hamper or prevent successful technology transfer:

  • A lack of human resource leads to difficulties in transferring and stabilizing the technology which is not enough user-friendly
  • A technology that is too specific, with not enough user base
  • A difficulty to contract with industry through institutional offices for industrial valuation
  • In the context of image analysis: the instability of open software economical model, inter-operability, large data handling and algorithm complexity

As a way to tackle these bottlenecks, France BioImaging launched in January 2021 its first “FBI Internal Call 2021: Technology transfer from the R&D teams to the core facilities” to promote the transfer of new technologies (instrumentation, probes, staining methods, software, data analysis or data visualization) from the R&D teams to the facilities of France BioImaging, for access and service to end-users. The outcome of the transfer project had to ensure for the prototype to be usable by the end-users until the interpretation of the data. The project had also to include a sustainability plan and a training plan to guide both facility staff and end-users toward autonomy.

The project selection was organized by the National Coordination of France-BioImaging and applications were assessed according to the following evaluation criteria:

  • Innovation and originality of the proposal
  • Scientific quality, implementation, timeline
  • Competitive positioning
  • Adequacy of resources with the proposed project
  • Economic impact and tech transfer potential and perspectives
  • Estimation of the user market and potential for user adoption
  • Plan for training and sustainability.

For the first edition of the “FBI Internal Call 2021: Technology transfer from the R&D teams to the core facilities”, 5 projects were selected:

  • Icy@FBI: Jean-Christophe Olivo-Marin (IPDM Node): Broadening the scope of applications of Icy (http://icy.bioimageanalysis.org/) by implementing several key new bioimage analysis components
  • BIC-HCS-SMLM: Jean-Baptiste Sibarita (Bordeaux Node), Technological transfer of a Single-Molecule-based High Content Screening platform to the Bordeaux Imaging Center
  • CloudFISH: Marcello Nollmann (Montpellier Node), A tool for the analysis of single-molecule RNA and DNA FISH images
  • MorphoNet: Emmanuel Faure (Montpellier Node), An interactive online morphological browser to explore complex multi-scale data
  • BioImageIT (https://bioimageit.github.io/#/about): Jean Salamero, Sylvain Prigent (IPDM Node), An open source framework for integration of image data management with analysis

Each selected project was awarded with a 80k€ grant for salary and/or equipment, and several positions are currently available: https://france-bioimaging.org/jobs/

This call will be renewed in 2023.

AAP Support to Events

  • PEP 2018 (Photothermal effects in plasmonics. Special focus on biology) – by Guillaume Baffou, Institut Fresnel, Marseille. Funded by FBI Coordination.

AAP User Access

  • Identification of the local transcriptome in mature excitatory presynaptic boutons, by Anne-Sophie Hafner (Max Planck for Brain Research, Schuman Department), hosted by Bordeaux Node.
  • Effect of vitamin A on splenic dendritic cells subset localization, by Jennifer Gommerman (University of Toronto), hosted by Paris-Centre (Curie).

AAP Tech & Meth Transfer

  • Cryo-CLEM implementation at Bordeaux Imaging Center, Monica Fernandez Monreal (BIC), hosted by Paris-Centre Node (Pasteur – Ultrapole).

The Executive Board of France-BioImaging has decided to support the following projects:

AAP Support to Events

  • Ecole des Houches: Fluorescence markers for advanced microscopy. From photophysics to biology, Ecole des Houches, 18 March 2018 – by Emmanuel Margeat, Centre de Biochimie Structurale, Montpellier. Funded by FBI Coordination.

AAP User Access

  • Impact of unconventional N-glycosylation on the dynamics of neuronal surface proteins, by Cyril Hanus (Inserm – Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences), hosted by Bordeaux Node.
  • Investigations on the dynamics of conversion between the locked and unlocked states of a typical bidomaindiflavin reductase: Role of cofactors, acceptors and salt in the transition, by Robert Benjamin Quast (LISBP Toulouse – Molecular and Metabolic Engineering EAD11), hosted by Montpellier Node.
  • Spectrally resolved imaging of single defects with nanometer resolution, by Jiandong Feng ( École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne), hosted by Bordeaux Node (IINS).
  • Second-harmonic extended resolution platform / attachment (SHERPA), by Adi Salomon ( Bar-Ilan University), hosted by Paris-Centre Node.

The Executive Board of France-BioImaging has decided to support the following projects:

AAP Support to Events

  •  Workshop on Bioimage informatics, Rennes, June 27 2017 – by Thomas Walter (Curie Institute). Funded by FBI Coordination.
  • Conférence « La microscopie à feuille de lumière », Villejuif, October 4, 2017 – by Laurent Combettes (Univ. Paris Sud). Funded by Ile-de-France Sud Node.
  • Multiscale Live Imaging in Human, Animal and Plant Health Symposium, Gif-sur-Yvette, September 12-13, 2017 – by Sylvia Bruneau (INRA – Gif sur Yvette). Funded by Ile-de-France Sud Node.

AAP User Access

  • Fusion, fission and maturation of early endosomes, by Xian Hu, University of Oslo. Hosted by Paris-Centre Node (Curie).

AAP Tech & Meth Transfer

  • Claire Chardes (Université Aix Marseille – IBDM), “soSPIM experiments on celegans and drosophila embryos”. Hosted by Bordeaux Node.
  • Ming Lei (Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences), “Using live cell & superresolution imaging to study triptolide’s anti-tumor activity”. 2 months. Hosted by Paris Centre (PICT Curie).

The Executive Board of France-BioImaging has decided to support the following projects:

AAP Support to Events

  • Training on Metrology in photonic microscopy, Rouen,  November 7-10, 2017 – by Damien Schapman, Université de Rouen, ANF. Funded by Bordeaux Node.

AAP User Access

  • Direct visualization of the post synaptic density, by Nicolaj RIIS CHRISTENSEN (University of Copenhagen), hosted by Bordeaux (IINS, BIC).
  • Phosphorylation serving as a regulator of Arc function on AMPA-receptor trafficking, by Maria Steene ERIKSEN (University of Bergen), hosted by Bordeaux (IINS, BIC).

The Executive Board of France-BioImaging has decided to support the following projects:

AAP Support to Events

  • Fourth Edition of Super-Resolution techniques in practice – focus on two-colour PALM/STORM imaging, Marseille, March 23, 2017 – by Sébastien Mailfert (CIML). Funding by Bordeaux Node.
  • 16èmes journées de formation du RCCM : Les cryo-méthodes en microscopie électronique, Roscoff, May 22-24, 2017 – by Sophie Le Panse (Station Biologique Roscoff, CNRS UPMC). Funding by FBI Coordination.
  • 14èmes Assises Nationales des Plates-formes du réseau RTmfm, Marseille (IBDM, Parc Scientifique de Luminy), March 20-22, 2017. Funding by FBI Coordination.
  • 2nd FBI CLEM Course, Paris, May 29th – June 2nd, 2017 – by Xavier Heiligenstein (Curie Institute). Funding by FBI Coordination.
  • 5th International Frontiers in Neurophotonics Symposium – FINS 2017, Bordeaux, October 15, 2017 – by Daniel Choquet (CNRS-IINS). Funding by FBI Coordination.
  • WG2 meeting, Montpellier, January 25, 2017 – by Thomas Walter (Curie Institute). Funding by Paris-Centre Node.

AAP User Access

  • High resolution quantitative imaging of voltage-gated calcium influx in the dendrites of cerebellar Purkinje cells: identifying a mechanistic path for GIRK channels modulation of synaptic plasticity, by Pellegrino Lippiello (University of Naples – Department of Pharmacy), hosted by Paris-Centre Node (IBENS).

The Executive Board of France-BioImaging has decided to support the following projects:

AAP Support to Events

  • Workshop super résolution sur échantillons végétaux, Bordeaux Imaging Center, UMS 3420, 1-2 décembre 2016 – by Lysiane Brocard, Pôle d’imagerie du végétal, domaine de la grande Ferrade INRA, Villenave d’Ornon. Funded by FBI Coordination.
  • ANF “Statistiques pour l’imagerie – STATIMAGE -”, Sèvres, 19 juin 2017 – by Claude-Marie Bachelet, IR1 Inserm. Funded by FBI Coordination.
  • 9th Imaging the Cell, Rennes, 28-30 juin 2017 – by Funded by FBI Coordination.
  • Colloque national de la Société Française des Microscopies, 4-7 juillet 2017 – by Funded by FBI Coordination.

AAP User Access

  • Identification and characterization of unknown blinking molecules present in Deinococcusradiodurans by single molecule spectral imaging, by Dominique Bourgeois (IBS, Grenoble), hosted by Bordeaux Node (BIC).

AAP Tech & Meth Transfer

  • Ievgeniia Gazo (Observatoire Océanologique de Villefranche sur mer), 3 weeks, Ile de France Sud Node (BioEmergences).

The Executive Board of France-BioImaging has decided to support the following projects:

AAP Access

  • Nanoscopy of inter-organelle dynamics and microdomain metabolic and calcium signaling in astrocytes using triple-color large-field super-resolution imaging by Ulrike Winckler, Carl-Ludwig-Institute for Physiology, Germany; in Paris Centre. .
  • Surface mobility of alpha-Neurexin during synaptic activity by Martin Heine, Leibniz Institut for Neurobiology, Germany ; in Bordeaux (école FENS)
  • Crosstalk between MAPs and EBs microtubular proteins during early neuronal differentiation by Laura Sayas, Center for Biomedical Research of the Canary Islands (CIBICAN), Institute forBiomedical Technologies (ITB), University of La Laguna (ULL), Spain ; in Bordeaux (école FENS).
  • Axonal actin cytoskeleton: structure and stability by Fernando Mar, I3S Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal ; in Bordeaux (école FENS)
  • Microtubule organization in neuronal development by Martin Harterink, Utrecht University (NL) ; in Bordeaux (école FENS)
  • Nanoscale mapping and tracking of postsynaptic protein organization by Harold MacGillavry, Utrecht University (NL) ; in Bordeaux (école FENS)
  • Two-photon calcium imaging of axons and their boutons by Dennis Kruijssen, Utrecht University (NL) ; in Bordeaux (école FENS)

AAP Grant for Event

  • Third edition of super –resolution techniques in practice – focus on 3D imaging – July 5, 2016 in Montpellier, by Jean-Bernard Fiche – funded by BI – IPDM
  • PSL* Chemical Biology Symposium – 8-9 décembre 2016 in Paris – by Ludovic Jullien

The Executive Board of France-BioImaging has decided to support the following projects:
 

AAP Access

  • Chromogranin A – Phosphatidic Acid Interaction And Regulation Of Hormone Secretion by Maïté Montero of the University of Rouen for 1 week in Marseille (CIML).
  • Dynamic Properties of Synapse-Organizing Proteins by Thomas Biederer of the Tufts University School of Medecine, Boston, MS for 8-10 weeks in Bordeaux (IINS).
  • Amphipathic helices as novel trafficking motifs in transmembrane proteins by Rasmus Herlo of Copenhagen University for 1 month in Bordeaux (IINS).
  • Single-molecule analysis of homologous recombination during bacterial transformation by Maud Hertzog of LMGM/CNRS Université Paul Sabatier (Toulouse) for 3 short visits in a 3 years project in Montpellier (CIML).

 

AAP Grant for Event

  • SSIAB 2016 (Spatial Statistics and Image Analysis in Biology Workshop) – May 25, 2016 in Rennes, by Charles Kervrann – funded by BI – IPDM
  • 15èmes journées de formation du RCCM : “Analyse d’images et nouvelles techniques d’imageries spécifiques” – 1-3 juin in St Etienne – by Isabelle Anselme Bertrand (Univ. St Etienne) – funded by IdF Sud
  • “First French Optogenetic Club” – 23 juin 2016 in Grenoble – by Olivier Destaing (Univ. JF de Grenoble)
  • MiFoBio 2016 – 30 september to 7 october 2016 in Seignosse – by GDR-MIV
  • Congrès GTBIO – SFB 2016 “Structural Biology meets Biophysics” – 13-16 Décembre 2016 in Obernai – by Eric Ennifar (CNRS/Univ. de Strasbourg)

The Executive Board of France-BioImaging has decided to support the following projects:
 

AAP Access

  • Subcellular, cellular and tumor multi-scale analysis of interplay between matrix remodeling, invadopodia formation and MT1-MMP activity during breast cancer progression: by Catalina Lodillinsky of the Institute of Oncology Angel Roffo (Argentina) for 3 months in Paris-Centre (PICT).
  • Spatiotemporal cartography and dynamics of endoplasmic reticulum (ER), luminal protein transport in COS-7 cells by single molecule tracking (SMT): by Jorge Toledo of the University of Chile for 6 weeks in Bordeaux.

 

AAP Technological & Methodological Transfer

  • Multimodal and quantitative fluorescence Microscopies: by Laurent Limozin of Marseille for 6-12 months in Paris-Centre (PICT).

The Executive Board of France-BioImaging has decided to support the following projects:
 

AAP Access

  • Effect of vitamin A on splenic dendritic cells subset localization: by Jennifer Gommerman of the University of Toronto for 3 months in Paris-Centre (PICT).
  • Topology of integrin LFA-1 activation during human T lymphocyte motility with super-resolution microscopy: by Raissa Houmadi of the Imaging cellular facility (Toulouse) for 4 days in Paris-Centre (IJM).

The Executive Board of France-BioImaging has decided to support the following events:

  • 1st FBI advanced CLEM workshop: From Live cell imaging to Electron microscopy , 2 sessions: January & February 2016, Institut Curie, Paris, France.
  • 13th national conference of cellular imaging platforms (RTmfm), mars 2016, Montpellier, France
  • 16th Européan Microscopy Congress (EMC 2016),, 28th august to 2nd september, Lyon, France
  • GDR-MIV Theme Days Workshop on light sheet microscopy