Flow Cytometry: Principles, Methods & Applications

This four day program is ideal for those who are looking for an in-depth, hands-on introduction to Flow Cytometry. The instructors will focus on a broad spectrum of flow cytometric topics, discuss examples from various research applications, provide technical protocols for flow cytometric sample preparation, as well as data analysis, trouble shooting and experimental design. Attendees will have hands-on experience on three different flow platforms (Becton Dickinson, Miltenyi, Bio-Rad and Sony) as well as exposure to four software analysis programs.

" I thoroughly enjoyed this comprehensive and practical presentation of Flow Cytometry – Went back to my home lab and hit the ground running. Thanks for the top-quality training, Bio-Trac!"

Gwenn Merry

FDA NCTR DSB BAMB

FACS
" This was a great course. The instructors were very knowledgable & helpful. Without introducing any bias towards particular commercial vendors, the course managed to provide a well balanced flavor for what is out there in terms of options for flow machines and software. The hands on workshops were also very helpful with truly individualized supervision during the classes."

Shaon Sengupta

University of Pennsylvania

FACS
" Bio-Trac courses are the sure way for one to jump start on a technique’s knowledge and applications base directly from experts and practitioners in the field. They surely give you insights that are not available elsewhere but from years of experiences. knowledge doesn’t stop when a training ends but rather a beginning of one’s development."

Neil H Tan Gana

Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines

FACS
"As always, Bio-Trac not only met my expectations, but exceeded them! I will absolutely be taking more classes with BioTrac - their classes should be required for all graduates entering the field of science. Easy to understand & follow, yet the classes get to the core of the discussed principle."

Jennie Rowell PhD, RN

Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University

CRISPR
"Excellent workshop provided basic and correct gating strategy and respective controls for the specific experiments. Very helpful and whole team was very supportive and explained all my queries at length"

Deepa Walia

Johns Hopkins Medical Campus (ACCM)

FACS

Lectures:
Basic Analytical Techniques, Principles, and Trouble Shooting; Principles of Cell Staining, Choosing the Right Experimental Controls, Instrument Setup (baseline and compensation); Phenotyping and Analyzing Cell Populations by Flow Cytometry – How to present and interpret flow cytometric data; Introduction to acquisition and analysis Software; Purification and Labeling of Antibodies for Flow Cytometric and Other Applications; Flow Sorting: Critical Experimental Issues and Instrument Setup; Parameters; Functional Flow Cytometric Assays;

Laboratory:
Preparation of Samples for Multicolor Analysis Flow Sorting; Multicolor Analysis, Compensation and Flow Sorting; Hands-on Flow Cytometry Exercises Using Miltenyi MACSQuant Analyzer; Bio-Rad S3e flow sorter; BD Accuri C6; Software training: Introduction to FlowJo Cytometry Analysis Software; Introduction to Cyflogic Cytometry Analysis Software; Flow Cytometry - Acquisition/Trouble Shooting/ Software; Introduction to FCS Express Cytometry Analysis Software

Attendees attend all lectures and labs listed.

Flow Cytometric Applications

Lecture: Basic Analytical Techniques, Principles, and Trouble Shooting
Lecture: Principles of Cell Staining, Choosing the Right Controls, Instrument Setup
Laboratory: Preparation of Samples for Multicolor Analysis Flow Sorting

Full Class Lectures

Multicolor Flow Cytometry and Panel Development
Phenotyping and Analyzing Cell Populations by Flow Cytometry - How to Read Flow Data

Small Learning Groups

Refer to ROTATIONS tab for descriptions

FACS Small Learning Groups

BD Accuri C6 STATION 1	Introductory Flow Cytometry Laboratory Staining of Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC) (hands on for each participant) with Basic Flow Panel (4 colors). Flow Cytometer Setup (BD Accuri; two lasers) with Special Emphasis on Compensation. Basics on Flow Cytometer Settings - Voltages, Gating, Dump Channels, Exclusion, and Compensation. Each attendee will setup a flow cytometer and perform manual compensation.
Miltenyi MACSQuant STATION 2	Advanced Flow Cytometry Laboratory Staining of Human PBMC with 7-color Immunophenotyping Flow Panel. Flow Cytometer Setup (MACSQuant; three lasers) with Special Emphasis on Compensation of Complex Multi-color Panels and Troubleshooting; Antibody Titrations as Preparative Tool for Panel Development; Utilization of Instrument for Rare Cell Detection. This Rotation Includes Automation Demonstrations Including Automated Compensation, Sample Labeling, Acquisition from a Multi-sampler and Analysis. In Addition to Immunophenotyping, Flow Cytometric Cell Counting and Nanoparticle Analysis will be Demonstrated.
Beckman CytoFLEX Nano STATION 3	Applied Laboratory High Parameter Flow Cytometer Emphasis on Small Particle Detection/Analysis and High-Throughput Screening
Sony SH800 Flow Sorter STATION 4	Applied Laboratory Single Cell Deposition

Lecture

Analysis of cell cycle, cellular proliferation by flow cytometry

Laboratories

Data Workshop; Hands-on Data Analysis; Samples From Cell Cycle Analysis ; Apoptosis; Multi-Color Surface Staining; Proliferation using Bio-Tracers
Software training: Introduction to FlowJo Cytometry Analysis Software; Introduction to FlowLogic Cytometry Analysis Software; Introduction to Cyflogic Cytometry Analysis Software; Introduction to FCS Express Cytometry Analysis Software

Small Group Sessions

Flow Cytometry - Acquisition/Trouble Shooting/Software
20 minute time slot rotations - student choice

Elke Bergmann-Leitner, Ph.D.

Dr. Elke Bergmann-Leitner is the Chief of the Flow Cytometry Center (Malaria Vaccine Branch) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, MD. She is an adjunct Research Associate Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and has been teaching flow cytometry for 25 years. Currently, her main research focus is the development of readout methods capable of identifying immune correlates of protection against infectious diseases.

Wolfgang Leitner, Ph.D.

Dr. Leitner is the Chief of the Innate Immunity Section at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID). He received his flow cytometry training at the University of Salzburg where he obtained a MSc in biochemistry and a PhD in Immunology. He has been teaching flow cytometry for 25 years. Before joining NIAID, he worked on melanoma and lymphoma vaccines at NCI/NIH, and at WRAIR as a vaccine consultant.

Jessica Bolton

Jessica Bolton is a Senior Research Associate from the Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, where she works at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) in the Immunology Core under Dr. Elke Bergmann-Leitner. She has 16 years of malaria vaccine development research experience and for the past 8 years her research has focused on cellular and humoral assay development for preclinical and clinical vaccination studies using flow cytometry and Mesoscale technology. She is currently obtaining her Ph.D. from George Mason University in Biosciences with a concentration in Infectious Diseases.

Dr Wathsala Wijayalath is a Senior Scientist employed by the Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda to serve as the Director of the Translational Immunology Laboratory at the Agile Vaccine and Therapeutics Department, Naval Medical Research Command in Silver Spring, MD.

Wathsala has over 20 years’ experience in immunology of infectious diseases and vaccine development. She has been using flow cytometry as a tool to evaluate vaccine specific immunological responses in various animal models as well as in humans for the last 13 years. She is currently engaged in research and development of vaccines and therapeutics for Infectious Diseases and Wound Infections.

Ph.D. Virginia Litwin, Ph.D.

Virginia Litwin is a thought-leader in validation and standardization focusing on “Cytometry from Bench-to-Bedside”.

She is currently the President-Elect of the International Society of the Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC). In 2023, she received the International Clinical Cytometry Society (ICCS) Wallace H. Coulter Award in recognition of her contributions to Clinical Cytometry.

She is a member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Flow Cytometry Standards Consortium and has been an invited speaker at FDA/NIST several times.

Virginia serves on the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Expert Panel and is the Documents Development Committee chair the CLSI guidance documents on Validation (H62 1^st Edition) and Immunophenotyping (H42 3^rd Edition). She is an Editor for Cytometry Part B and has been a guest editor for special issues addressing translational cytometry. She founded the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Flow Cytometry Committee.

After obtaining a Ph.D. in Virology/Immunology from the University of Iowa, Virginia joined Lewis Lanier at DNAX as a post-doctoral fellow where she identified the KIR receptor, CD158E1. She was a biomarker scientist at Bristol-Myers Squibb and is currently a Director of Scientific Affairs at Eurofins Clinical Trial Solutions.

March 2022

“Fantastic workshop. Recommend to anyone doing flow cytometry.” Svetlana I., IBBR/NIST/University of Maryland, CP

“I really enjoyed the course, it was really challenging but I learned so much and can’t wait to use everything that I have learned.” Megan F., MilliporeSigma

“This course was an excellent exposure for understanding of key concepts of flowcytometry data analysis, experiment design. I got an opportunity to interact with excellent scientists from the field as well as get to see some of the advanced instruments in the market.” Somanath K., SUNY Upstate Medical University

“What pleased me the most is that all of the lecturers answered the questions considerately and kindly even though they are for basic as the beginners like me can understand.” Naobi H., N2PPK

“Fantastic Workshop! I learned more than I expected and I am impressed with the quality of lab, lecture, & software training. I will take another workshop in the future. I encourage other scientists to consider Bio-Trac workshops.” Meagan C.

November 2021

“The staff in particular were exceptionally knowledgeable and talented teachers. I would absolutely take another Bio-Trac workshop again.” Jonah H., WRAIR

“Bio-Trac workshops are excellent. Lectures talked about every aspect of Flow Cytometry, giving me a better idea on how to design my experiments.” HuiYing T., Thomas Jefferson University

“This workshop was a great crash course and I thoroughly enjoyed the labs. I am excited to apply my new knowledge to my lab’s research and help advance HIV research. Thank you for a great class.” Erin K., WRAIR/MHRP

“A great and comprehensive workshop for beginners in flow cytometry.” Diane N., NIST

“Thank you for a valuable training, it was very useful and informative.” Rashmi S., PhD, National Institute of Plant Biology, New Delhi

“The workshop was great with plenty of hands-on experiments. Dr. Elke Bergman-Leitner (WRAIR) and Dr. Wolfgang Leitner (NIH/NIAID) are world-class experts. This workshop gave us a very unique experience which will really help me to design and understand experiment.” Wei W., Ingenious Targeting Laboratory

	Lecture and Hands-on Interactive Training
	Team taught by active researchers
	Thumbnail drive with Lectures and Workshop material
	Space limited to 18 participants
	Registration Fee: $995