Life in Focus: The conference of the German Society of Cytometry (DGfZ) met in Jena

Impressions from the 27th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Cytometry.

Image source: Leibniz-IPHT Jena/ Christian Kranhold

Microscopy/Imaging

Nearly 200 scientists attended this year’s conference of the DGfZ themed “Life in Focus“ held at the Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule in Jena. From October 4-6, the annual meeting was held in Jena for the first time. The Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT) was host and organizer of the event. 

Cytometry is an essential analysis technique in the fields of biology, medicine and ecology. It is used to examine cells and their genetic, biochemical and structural characteristics. High-ranking international scientists met in Jena this year, to exchange ideas on this scientific area and to discuss new methods and applications. Amongst others, the topics covered the elucidation of different communicational pathways between cells and the analysis of microscopically small plastic particles that endanger our environment as micro plastic. 

In total, 23 different companies presented their current products in the framework of the industrial exhibition to forge links and deepen the ones that were already established. The conference dinner on the evening of the second conference day offered a suitable frame to award distinguished scientific achievements. The Klaus-Goerttler-Prize, which is awarded to young scientists who graduated with a distinguished postdoctoral or doctoral degree in the field of cytometry, was presented to Julia Reinhardt of Bonn University. The prize is endowed with 1000 Euro and is annually presented on the occasion of the conference. Furthermore, Andreas Kleiber, a junior researcher of Leibniz-IPHT, won the poster award endowed with 200 Euro. The PhD student’s poster presented a technique for 3D-tomographic imaging flow-cytometry. The method successively captures images of cells from every spatial direction. The first prototype allows to take individual three dimensional images of more than 100 cells per second. 

“This year's conference with nearly 200 participants was one of the largest conferences in the history of the DGfZ. I am especially proud, to have realized such a top-class scientific program. I am looking forward to hosting the conference again next year“, concludes conference chair Wolfgang Fritzsche, head of department at the Leibniz-IPHT.