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Latin America Light Microscopy Fundamentals: Train-the-Trainer

Posted by , on 17 October 2024

Claire M. Brown, PhD, Advanced BioImaging Facility (ABIF), McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The Leloir Institute Foundation and University of Buenos Aires, June 3-7, 2024

From June 3-7, 2024, a dedicated team of imaging scientists ran the Latin America Light Microscopy Fundamentals Train-the-Trainer event in Buenos Aires. Twenty four imaging scientists from across Latin America and Africa were trained in how to run a fundamentals light microscopy course. Participants were also given all the lecture slides and hands-on activity lab manuals to use in building their own courses. The course created a new community of dedicated trainers in the global south who were empowered to work together and train the next generation of light microscopists in their communities. Search for event details on social media for the event tag #LatLM_TtT2024.

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The week started with a Sunday afternoon city bus tour of Buenos Aires. The double-decker bus weaved through a large part of the city, and a recording available in a dozen languages told us about museums, historic avenues and buildings, and the culture and character of the different neighborhoods throughout the city. During the tour, we stopped for coffee and the famous “alfajores” that is cookies with dulce de leche (caramelized milk) in between and covered with chocolate! This was a great way for course organizers and participants to meet and get to know each other before the start of an intense week. Following the tour, one participant said, “The experience of Buenos Aires will remain indelible in our hearts.” Stephen Adelodun, Imaging Scientist, Nigeria

There were 21 participants from Latin America and 3 from Africa. A highlight was one Brazilian, and the 3 African imaging scientists were unable to travel to Canada in 2023 for the Montreal Light Microscopy Course Fundamentals Train-the-Trainer because of visa issues. They were able to travel to Buenos Aires, though! Their participation in the course was a huge step in building direct bridges between the Latin American and African imaging communities.

Monday morning started with a few slides and introductions from all the participants. We learned about expectations for the course, participants’ imaging facilities, and facts about where people live. Participants were excited about learning how to teach a fundamentals microscopy course and teaching their own communities. Did you know the world’s first transplant was done in Cape Town, South Africa? We also had a lot of music lovers – so maybe a light microscopy band? This exercise helped the group develop quickly as a community ready to learn and collaborate.

The course included presentations and discussions about course logistics with practical tips and resources for organizing a course, from booking rooms to helping participants get visas to enter the country. The main part of the course involved presentations of selected lecture slides and hands-on demonstrations of different topics from the course materials, from light-matter interactions to 3D fluorescence imaging. The concept was that the course program, slides, and hands-on lab manual were provided to all participants so they could adapt and use them in their courses. A highlight was the “appearing” marbles refraction exercise. Each session included in-depth small group discussions about the course content, what was presented well, constructive feedback about how to improve, and ideas for additional content. Each group then gave feedback to the larger group. The course organizers plan to use ChatGPT to pull out the highlights from the detailed notes to guide changes for the next version of the train-the-trainer course.

Three early-career Argentinian Imaging Scientists organized an afternoon outreach event at a local public school with hands-on activities for 9–12-year-old students. The participants and students loved the activity, and the added benefit of the cultural exchange made for a rich experience. Many of the children had never met anyone from outside of Argentina, and they enjoyed hearing about the countries and careers of imaging scientists. The teachers from the school were thrilled by the event and said the children had a fantastic experience.

We went for a course dinner Thursday night at a traditional Argentina neighborhood Parrilla restaurant for “Asado” or barbeque and Argentina red wine followed by traditional flan and dulce de leche for dessert. Friday included talks on core facility management, imaging facility tours, a visit to the University of Buenos Aires, and a session on bioimaging networks and imaging scientist careers. The final session included presentations from the participants on their experience during the week and their plans to implement the materials in their own institutions and regions. Highlights included creating a distributed network of facilities in Brazil and moving the fundamentals course from institution to institution with a core team of imaging scientists organizing and running the course. The Latin American Bioimaging Training and Education Working Group plans to coordinate the expansion of this model across the region and follow-up fundamental courses derived from it. There are also plans to run the fundamentals course in Kenya and the African imaging scientists will support one another to make this happen while also calling on their new Latin American colleagues.

One learning from the course planning is that “People always remember the food!”. The local organizers took that rule to heart, and there were wonderful meal options with lots of time to network and build new collaborations. Highlights from the week included the creation of a new, vibrant, and connected community of imaging scientists interested in teaching light microscopy fundamentals. Collaboration is fostered by shared challenges, new energy, and willingness to support one another across the global south. The sense from established imaging scientists (who mostly stayed in the background) of passing the baton to the organizational team’s three early career imaging scientists. The course was a great success and achieved the goal of empowering imaging scientists by giving them the tools, resources and support they need to succeed and train their own communities.

Global BioImaging travel award winner

Thank you to Global BioImaging for providing travel support for 10 imaging scientists and Latin America BioImaging for providing travel support for 4 imaging scientists. This support is critical for members of the community to attend courses.

Latin America BioImaging travel award winner

What was a positive outcome from the course?

  1. “Now I have materials to organize a course and a network of colleagues where to go for help.” Course Participant
  2. “I am more motivated than ever to launch a course in my country Kenya. The imaging
  3. community here wa so helpful and encouraging to other upcoming communities like The Africa BioImaging Consortium (ABIC).” Bernard N. Jumba, Imaging Scientist, Kenya
  4. “My work developing microscopy teaching materials over the last 15 years using resources from microscopy giants like Michael Davidson now has more value! Imaging scientists don’t have to start from scratch. They can take my work, improve it, and expand it. Demonstrating the power of collaboration.” Claire M. Brown, McGill University
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