VISUALIZING BIOLOGICAL DATA VIZBI

Next Wednesday during the VIZBI 2018 session on DNA, Aaron Wong from Flatiron Institute (USA), will speak about current approaches and challenges in visualizing and interrogating large-scale functional genomics data. He will present current research on genome-scale tissue-specific functional networks and will describe how these tools are leveraged to interpret function of disease genes. Further information about Aaron’s talk is available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Aaron_Wong.

Next Friday at VIZBI 2018, Anders Ynnerman from Linköping University (Sweden), will present a keynote talk on the ongoing convergence of exploratory and explanatory visualization paradigms. He will speak about the paradigm shift in visual learning and communication, enabling a new generation of installations and demonstrations at museums and science centres. Explanatory methods can pave the path for new approaches to exploration. Anders will speak about issues in visualization, providing examples and interactive demonstrations to illustrate concepts such as virtual dissection of insects and flowers at museum collections. Further information on Anders’ talk is available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Anders_Ynnerman.

In case you are still deciding, there are still tickets left for both VIZBI 2018 and the Data Visualisation Masterclass. To register for VIZBI 2018, click here: REGISTRATION. Email contact@vizbi.org if you have any queries.

Next Friday, during the VIZBI 2018 session on Populations, Patrick Chain from Los Alamos National Laboratory (USA) will speak about Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology and the genomic exploration of the minor players in a microbial community. This extra throughput and “big data”, coupled with lack of tools for processing and visualization, presents a new set of challenges in interpreting these complex data sets. He will speak about current issues in this area, including a series of efforts designed to lower the barrier for non-experts to use NGS for routine applications. Further information about Patrick’s talk is available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Patrick_Chain.

Next Wednesday, in the VIZBI 2018 session on RNA, Joanna Trylska from Biomolecular Machines Laboratory (Poland) will speak about how molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate the relation between dynamics and function. The complicated 3D architecture of RNA results from its sequence and flexibility. She will present challenges in visualising RNA dynamics with examples that respond to factors such as antibiotics and temperature change. Further information on Joanna’s talk is available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Joanna_Trylska.

Next week as part of the VIZBI 2018 session on Tissues, Lydia Gregg from John Hopkins University (USA), will speak about new advancements in medical data-driven illustrations. In particular, she will present the scope of opportunities offered by these improvements in imaging techniques with several examples. These advancements ultimately enable advancements in knowledge, and options to replace animal models with 3D printed models in experiments. Further information on Lydia’s talk and some high-resolution images are available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Lydia_Gregg.

We are now offering a 25% group discount for orders of 5 or more tickets for both VIZBI 2018 and the Data Vis Masterclass. If all 5 members of your group are eligible for regular tickets, then you may proceed to use the “Group Discount” ticket option. If your group composes a mix of regular and students tickets, then please contact us at contact@vizbi.org to organise how to obtain your discount.

At the VIZBI 2018 session on populations next week, Antonio González Peña from the University of California (USA), will speak about how meta-analyses are used to generate new hypotheses in multi-omic projects. Qiita is used to integrate analysis and comparison of microbiome studies. Antonio will also explain current challenges in analysis, retrieval and visualization. Further information on Antonio’s talk is available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Antonio_Gonzalez.

Next week at the VIZBI 2018 session on RNA, Eric Lécuyer from Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (Canada), will speak about his work in examining cellular organization; how conveyers of genetic information are dispatched to fulfil their functions. His work uses high-throughput molecular imaging and functional genomics approaches, aiming to elucidate RNA trafficking in maintaining the cell, and the role these pathways may have in disease. Further information about Eric’s talk is available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Eric_Lecuyer.

At the VIZBI 2018 session on Proteins, Jodie Jenkinson from the University of Toronto (Canada) will present on visual biomolecular representations in education and outreach. Visual representations are highly beneficial in understanding molecular interactions and in facilitating further discoveries. Jodie will examine how strategies are determined in representing concepts that are hypothetical and how the level of required detail is decided in different types of communications. Further details about Jodie’s talk are available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Jodie_Jenkinson.

Next week at VIZBI 2018 in the session on Cells, Devin Sullivan from KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) will speak about his work in mapping and understanding protein localization. He will explore current visualizations of proteome scale protein localization and future challenges in this area of research. Further details about Devin’s talk are available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Devin_Sullivan.

Thursday next week at VIZBI 2018, in his keynote talk on communicating science visually, Drew Berry from Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (Victoria, Australia) will present the latest experiments from WEHI.TV: GPU hardware and accelerated game engines to generate detailed cinematic landscapes inside our living cells. This work has expanded to deliver real-time open-world stories of mitochrondrial membranes and animated molecular engines. Further details about Drew’s talk are available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/2018/Drew_Berry

Where to go when in Cambridge, MA? (1) Visit the Entrepreneur Walk of Fame in Kendall Square: the plaza outside the Marriott hotel has tiles honoring Thomas Edison, Hewlett-Packard Co-founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard, Genentech Cofounder Bob Swanson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Lotus founder Mitch Kapor. (2) When you arrive at the Broad, grab a screenshot of your WiFi neighbourhood and share with your friends: you’re in one of the world’s greatest technology hubs! (3) A stone’s throw from the Broad is the main office of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and just a few blocks away is the main office of Cell Press, both are worth the visit. (5) A favorite local restaurant chain is called Legal Seafoods; one is located a block away from Broad; another is in Boston Logan airport. On departure day, get to the airport early so you can get in a last lobster or Boston clam chowder before flying home.

Thursday morning next week at VIZBI 2018, as part of the session on visualising protein data, Ivan Viola from the Technische Universität Wien (Austria) will talk on the large-scale interactive visualization of protein environments. His work uses a variety of computer graphics and visualization techniques to enable interactive navigation through molecular-scale models of entire viruses or bacteria. In coming years, he aims to scale-up these methods to encompass entire eukaryotic cells, or to allow real-time physiological simulations covering the entire lifetime of simple bacteria. Further details about Ivan’s talk – including a much higher resolution version of the image below and a short video – are available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/2018/Ivan_Viola.

In the week following VIZBI 2018, some of the VIZBI team travel to the New York Genome Center to present a ‘VIZBI Showcase‘. Formerly known as VizbiPlus events, these are evening events designed to highlight the use of visualisation to communicate biological insight and discovery. The VIZBI Showcase will be on Monday, April 2, run by local host Christian Stolte, and featuring a keynote from renowned biomedical animator Gaël McGill (Harvard Medical School & Digizyme). This will be followed by short ‘lightning’ talks from local participants whose work spans life science and visual communication. It’s the perfect event to bring friends and family, and share with them the fascinating and exciting world of life science research.

The following day, April 3, there will be a smaller version of the Data Visualization Masterclass event, given New Yorkers the opportunity to learn in-depth approaches, techniques, and design issues for visualising complex data.

The tissues and organisms session at VIZBI 2018 will be chaired by Steve Pieper (Harvard University). In this session, Richard Smith (Max Planck Institute for Plant Genetics, Germany) will speak on visualizing morphogenesis data, Lydia Gregg (Johns Hopkins University) on advances and challenges in visualizing human anatomy, and James Michaelson (Massachusetts General Hospital) will discuss micro-CT data.

The cellular systems session at VIZBI 2018 will be chaired by John Bachman (Harvard University, USA). In this session, Bree Aldridge (Tufts University, USA) will speak about visualizing cellular responses, Devin Sullivan (KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden) on protein localization data, and Scooter Morris (UCSF, USA) will discuss tools and approaches for representing biological networks.

The protein session at VIZBI 2018 will be chaired by Gaël McGill (Harvard Medical School & Digizyme, USA). In this session, Ivan Viola (Technische Universität Wien, Austria) will discuss large scale interactive visualization of protein environments, Jodie Jenkinson (University of Toronto, Canada) will speak about molecular representations, and Sameer Velankar (PDBe, UK) will highlight the importance of visualization in databases of molecular structure.

The RNA session at VIZBI 2018 will be chaired by Yoseph Barash (University of Pennsylvania). In this session, Joanna Trylska (University of Warsaw, Poland) will discuss RNA structure and dynamics, Eric Lécuyer (Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, Canada) will speak about high-throughput molecular imaging, and Kristin Ardlie (Broad Institute) on RNA expression.