Advanced Imaging Resource job shadowing visit

By Daniel Thédié

My one-week visit to the Institute of Genetics and Cancer was a great week filled with new experiences and interesting discussions.

I am a postdoc at the School of Biological Sciences, working on DNA repair and bacteria. I use a lot of microscopy and image analysis, and I have been wanting to transition towards a facility position – assisting users with their image analysis questions, testing new tools and implementing new workflows.

With Ann Wheeler’s help, I applied to the Royal Microscopical Society’s technical job shadowing scheme, and got to spend a week at the Advanced Imaging Resource at the IGC. I had a great time shadowing the bioimage analyst Laura Murphy, and meeting with IGC staff working in and around image analysis.

Daniel Thédié and Laura Murphy

I really enjoyed sitting with Laura and looking at the different images and queries she received from users. I found the variety in the projects she’s working with really motivating, from histopathology whole slide imaging and nuclear protein organisation, to single-molecule super-resolution and more. During the week, we held a drop-in clinic session, where researchers could bring their microscopy images, and I enjoyed working out with them what was the best approach to answer their biological questions with the data they collected.

Software benchmarking

I also had the chance to get into an image analyst’s shoes by benchmarking a new software for single-molecule localisation on two of the facility’s image analysis computers. This was great hands-on experience of installing and testing software with potential users in mind, and gave me an opportunity to discuss with Brian Wallace, from Information Services, how to improve the computing power of the facility’s virtual machine.

QuPath

A major part of the shadowing experience was meeting with other IGC staff, discussing their professional experiences and their everyday work. Highlights of this were a particularly informative discussion with Murray Wham on designing web applications for researchers, and chats with Fiona Inglis, Leo Leplat and Alan O’Callaghan on the development of QuPath. These discussions made me want to learn more about software development, and left me with multiple new concepts and avenues to explore in the future.

All through my visit, I got to see how much of a vibrant and friendly place IGC is. Researchers interacted easily in formal meetings as well as informal encounters, creating a pleasant and stimulating environment. This was particularly clear at the pizza party organised by the IGC social committee, which was really cheerful. The atmosphere made me feel very welcome during the whole week, which allowed me to make the most of my visit.

I would like to heartily thank Ann Wheeler and Laura Murphy for welcoming me, taking the time to show me around, and organising meetings so I could get the best experience possible in a short time. I would also like to thank all the people who gave me some of their time, let me peek over their shoulder at what they were doing, and explained the joys and challenges of their everyday work. And finally, thank you to the Royal Microscopy Society for allowing me to do have this job shadowing opportunity through their funded programme. It has been a truly enriching experience, and I would recommend it to anyone who is curious to learn more about different careers or workplaces.