The brand-new France-BioImaging Alsace Node hosted its first Annual Meeting, bringing together all France-BioImaging members in the historical city of Strasbourg. The event provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the future of the infrastructure, share the latest updates, and focus on this year’s theme: “Live Functional Imaging: From Chemical Synthesis of Probes to Instrumentation.”

Day 1: Welcome to Strasbourg!

The members of the Alsace Node warmly welcomed participants to their platforms in Strasbourg and Illkirch. The morning was dedicated to exchanging ideas around microscopy facilities and techniques.

A highlight of the day was the presentation of seven Tech Transfer projects laureates of 2023 and 2024 FBI Tech Transfer calls, showcasing successful examples of technological transfert from FBI R&D teams to FBI facilities.

Also, an update on FBI BioImage Informatics Node was provided by Charles Kervrann. Dorian Kauffmann presented the FBI Challenges 2024 and 2025, and the winner of the Light my cells 2024 Imaging Challenge: Bright Field to Fluorescence was invited to present her solution.

The day concluded on a high note with an Alsace wine tasting and a guided tour of Strasbourg’s charming old town!

Day 2: Scientific sessions

The second day delved deeper into the scientific theme of the meeting: “Live Functional Imaging: From Chemical Synthesis of Probes to Instrumentation.” Participants were treated to a series of insightful presentations by France-BioImaging members. These talks explored the development of new probes, how to optimize their optical properties and the creation of advanced instruments leveraging these innovations for life sciences. The expertise and richness of France-BioImaging’s nodes expertise were on full display.

Two distinguished keynote speakers enriched the sessions with their insights:

• Ulrike Endesfelder (Bonn University, Institute for Microbiology and Biotechnology, Germany)
• Olivier Maury (ENS Lyon, Laboratoire de Chimie, France)

The meeting concluded with a roundtable discussion on the challenges and opportunities of chemistry and bioimaging communities working together, providing a collaborative space for sharing perspectives and solutions.

These two days were a fantastic opportunity to connect, share achievements, and discuss future developments in bioimaging. See you next year in Normandie!