Visit to Turku and PhD defense in Helsinki

Christophe was in Finland this week, first in Turku invited by Guillaume Jacquemet, then in Helsinki to serve as an opponent for Amr Abouelezz, a brillant PhD student from Pirta Hotulainen’s lab. The PhD defense is a serious affair in Finland and Amr passed with flying colors! Thanks to Pirta for this opportunity.

You can read the PhD work of Amr in two published article: one here on the resistance of the axon initial segment actin rings to actin depolymerizing drugs, and his main work here on the presence and role of tropomyosin at the AIS. Congrats Amr!

Visit to Cambridge

Christophe was invited to Cambridge by Kristian Franze and gave a seminar as part of the Adrian Seminar Series of the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience. Thanks Kristian for the invitation and the glimpse to the splendid Cantabrigian life!

Saint John’s College in the morning

The next day, Christophe gave a seminar at the Chemical Engineering department, invited by Clemens Kaminski from the Laser Analytics Group. This was followed by a lively discussion with the group’s PhD students.

FENS CAJAL course: Advanced Techniques for Synapse Biology

Christophe spent 10 days in Bordeaux as an instructor for the FENS CAJAL Advanced Neuroscience Training Programme Course called “Advanced Techniques for Synapse Biology“. Every morning were talks from keynote speakers and instructors, while the afternoon were devoted to working on a project with two students. We heavily used the microscopes from the Bordeaux Imaging Center (thanks Magali!) including spinning disk for live-cell imaging and STORM super-resolution microscopy. The hard work of students Pushpa Khanal and Alexandra Reichova led to beautiful images of axonal trafficking and structure!

The STORM micrsocope in action
An image from the final presentation of Pushpa and Alexandra
The course students and instructors

Visit to Japan: Kusumi lab and Biophysical Society of Japan meeting

Together with Tijana Jovanovic-Talisman (City of Hope) and Paul Maddox (UNC), Christophe was invited by Aki Kusumi and Taka-aki Tsunoyama at the Okinawa Institute of Technology (OIST) for a seminar on new microscopy techniques. Aki and Taka were wonderful hosts and the OIST is a stunning place to do science!

A 180° view of the OIST entry gate
Group pic in front of the Kusumi lab (beautiful platinum-replica EM from Morone et al. JCB 2006)
Christophe’s talk at OIST – pic courtesy of @paul_s_maddox

Taka and Aki then brought us on the island of Kyushu, the southern island of the main Japanese archipelago. We went to the city of Miyazaki to participate to the 57th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society of Japan. Our symposium was entitled “Biophysical Physiology and Pathology by the Application of Superresolution Microscopy” – featuring interesting talks with beautiful images from Takahiro Fujiwara (Kyoto University) and Makio Tokunaga (Tokyo Insitute of Technology).

Utrecht Summer School

Christophe gave a course as part of the 2019 edition of the Utrecht Summer School on Neuronal Circuits Development and Plasticity. In addition to the course, there was an opportunity to discuss with the students in small groups about our science but also careers and how open science is changing the landscape – the future scientists are full of ideas and motivation!

pic courtesy of @KapiteinLukas

Talk at INMED and Imaging Symposium at INT

Two visits to our neighbors at the begining of July: on July 1st, Christophe was invited by Jean-Bernard Manent to give a talk at the Institut de Neurobiologie de la Méditerranée (INMED) in Luminy. An exciting day in the artful institute, exchanging ideas with great scientists and colleagues!

On July 11th, Christophe was part of the “Advanced Photonic Imaging in Neuroscience” (APIN) symposium organized by our next-door neighbors at the Institut des Neurosciences de la Timone (INT). The symposium was filled with incredible talks showing how deeper, faster and more functional imaging are crucial to today’s neuroscience. Congrats to Ivo Vanzetta, Franck Debarbieux and Nicolas Wanaverbecq for organizing such a great event.

Cytomorpho lab 10-year anniversary retreat

Christophe was at the 10-year anniversary retreat of the Cytomorpho lab right in front of the sea in Les Goudes, Marseille. Thanks for the invitation Manuel and Laurent, it was great discussing with actin and microtubules specialists, and hearing the various paths taken by the lab alumni.

A great place to hear about a great lab