American Spatial Biology Congress 2025

Alina Isakova

Research Director, The Phil & Penny Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience, Stanford University

As a Director of the Brain Resilience Laboratory, Alina Isakova oversees the laboratory operations and the research projects conducted under the Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience. She leads the Initiative’s effort in creating a detailed molecular map of human brain aging and identifying physiological pathways toward brain resilience. A physicist by training, Alina has a track record of building and integrating a diverse toolbox spanning genomics, proteomics, microscopy, microfluidics, and automation. She has broad expertise in molecular biology, neurosciences, bioengineering, and data analytics. Alina earned her Ph.D. in Biotechnology and Bioengineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. Prior to joining Knight Initiative, Alina did her postdoc with Professor Stephen Quake at Stanford University.

Ahmet Coskun

Bernie Marcus Early-Career Professor, Assistant Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University

Dr. Coskun is a Bernie-Marcus Early-Career Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Dr. Coskun is a systems biotechnologist and bioengineer, working at the nexus of multiplexed cell imaging and quantitative tissue biology. Dr. Coskun directs an interdisciplinary research team at the Single Cell Biotechnology and Spatial Omics Laboratory. Previously, Dr. Coskun was an Instructor at Stanford University. Dr. Coskun received his postdoctoral training from the California Institute of Technology. He holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a recipient of the NIH R35 MIRA Award 2023, BMES-CMBE Rising Star Award 2023, American Lung Association Innovation Award 2022, and Student Recognition of Excellence in Teaching: Class of 1934 CIOS Award, among other research and teaching awards. In addition, he leads outreach programs to engage K12 students and undergraduate students through BioCrowd Studio, an innovative crowd-sourcing program bringing together interactive virtual media, distributed biokits, and collaborative spatial discovery.

Marina Bleck

Principal Scientist, Boehringer Ingelheim

Dr. Marina Bleck earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry/Biophysics from the University of Münster, Germany. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at The Rockefeller University where she utilized advanced fluorescence microscopy techniques to study cell biological questions.
In 2018, she joined Boehringer Ingelheim’s Immunology & Respiratory Diseases Research Department in Ridgefield, CT, where she is currently a group leader in the Spatial Biology/Molecular Histopathology lab. Her team utilizes spatial biology techniques to provide target-to-disease linkage.

Michael Surace

Director, Cancer Biomarker Development, AstraZeneca

Michael Surace is Director of Translational Medicine at AstraZeneca, where he leads cross-functional efforts to develop and deploy tissue-based biomarkers in early oncology trials. His work focuses on advancing spatial biology platforms and integrating complex data streams—including imaging and transcriptomic modalities—to improve patient selection and understand therapeutic mechanisms. Mike is currently guiding the development of an AI-enabled foundation model designed to accelerate insight generation and make biomarker strategies more actionable in the clinic. He collaborates closely with discovery scientists, pathologists, and clinicians to bridge experimental innovation and clinical application. As Course Director for the Bio-Trac Spatial Biology Symposium, Mike is committed to creating spaces for shared learning and advancing the collective potential of the field. His goal is to help make spatial biomarkers not just exploratory tools, but practical drivers of better decision-making in precision oncology.

Alexander Xu

Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park

I am an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland. I was recently an instructor at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Associate Director of the Spatial Molecular Profiling Shared Resource. I study the spatial biology of tumor systems using highly multiplexed single cell -omics technologies. My training has also focused on engineering platforms and algorithms to interpret complex biological systems. I have worked extensively in both RNA and protein analysis, and my technologies have been applied in specific disease settings in cancer and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as different biological systems such as glycosylation or metabolism. My research focus and community engagements are also focused on emphasizing the importance of spatial biology, and I organize a yearly symposium on spatial biology attended by 300+ local scientists as well as a biweekly seminar series. As an early career scientist, I have been awarded the Tower Cancer Research Career Development Grant in Translational Cancer Research and the NCATS UCLA CTSI KL2 Scholar Award.

Jiwoon Park

Postdoctoral Associate, Weill Cornell Medicine

Jiwoon Park is a Postdoctoral Associate at Harvard Medical School and Weill Cornell Medicine, and a member of the laboratories of Drs. George Church and Christopher Mason. She specializes in combining experimental and computational approaches to model molecular and physiological dynamics of human health. Jiwoon earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from The Cooper Union in 2017. During her Ph.D. in Physiology, Biophysics, and Systems Biology at Cornell University under the mentorship of Dr. Charles Rice, she developed stem cell-derived and computational models to investigate liver diseases and regeneration. Jiwoon now leads the Spatial Atlas of Human Anatomy (SAHA) project, a pioneering initiative that sets spatial transcriptomics and proteomics standards. She has been incorporating advanced machine-learning techniques for analyzing and integrating multiple organs, focusing on immune microenvironment interactions in various physiological states. Her work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals and widely recognized with awards and fellowships from several organizations, including MOGAM, the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA), and the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Tatiana Novitskaya

Spatial Biology Platform Lead, Voyant Bio

Dr. Tatiana Novitskaya is a scientist with broad expertise in biomedical research and deep knowledge of disease pathogenesis, tissue biomarkers, discovery, and translational research. She holds degrees in Laboratory Medicine and Pathophysiology and completed her postdoctoral training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Throughout her career, Dr. Novitskaya has applied histopathology techniques to projects spanning oncology, cardiology, nephrology, metabolic and fibrotic disorders, and developmental biology. She co-developed a novel strategy for multiplexed tissue staining using photo-cleavable chemistry, adopted numerous advanced Spatial Omics technologies for R&D, devised image analysis pipelines, and led efforts to establish validation methods in Spatial Biology. Dr. Novitskaya is a co-inventor on two patent applications for innovative computational approaches to the analysis of spatially resolved multiplexed samples. Her interests include quality control in spatial biology, 3D pathology, and methods to assess biological heterogeneity.

Nicholas Dove

Bioinformatician, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic

Nicholas Dove is a Bioinformatician at Mayo Clinic in Florida. Nicholas completed his Ph.D. in 2019 at the University of California, Merced, before conducting a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Before joining Mayo Clinic, Nicholas spent several years at various biotech startups, focusing on data science and bioinformatics. Nicholas is most excited about developing generalized software solutions that increase the pace of discover regardless of the specific biological question at-hand. Outside of the office, Nicholas can generally be found outdoors, usually on one of his bicycles.

Amos Lee

Chief Executive Officer, Meteor Biotech

Amos Chungwon Lee is a highly accomplished engineer, scientist, and entrepreneur specializing in bioengineering and spatial omics technologies. He holds a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Seoul National University, complemented by a B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley. As CEO and co-founder of Meteor Biotech, he drives innovation in spatial omics for medical applications. His academic journey includes notable research in spatial transcriptomics and targeted genomics, resulting in high-impact publications and awarded patents. Amos has contributed significantly to the fields of synthetic biology, DNA nanotechnology, and cancer genomics, collaborating with global research teams and co-founding companies to advance healthcare solutions. Recognized with awards for his pioneering research, he actively participates in conferences and advisory boards, bridging the gap between scientific research and commercialization for cutting-edge biotechnologies.

Deidre Dalmas

Investigative Safety and Toxicology, Pharma Industry

Deidre Dalmas, MS, PhD, FRSB is an innovative industry thought leader with expertise in investigative safety and translational toxicology and application across drug discovery and development. A pioneer in spatial transcriptomics, genomics, and novel in vitro/in vivo assay development including CIVMs, MPS systems, she leads global teams and cross industry initiatives advancing predictive safety tools and multi-omics integration across drug discovery and development. Deidre is an advisor in cross-industry consortia (IQ DruSafe, CPATH-PSTC, HESI-eSTAR, NASA) where her work bridges cutting-edge science with regulatory strategy to accelerate drug discovery, development and clinical impact.

Kimberly Smythe

Staff Scientist, Head of Translational Pathology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Kimberly Smythe leads the Translational Pathology core at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, focusing on spatial proteomics through multiplex and high-plex immunohistochemistry, with a special interest in immuno-oncology. After working in cancer immunology at the bench and transitioning to HIV vaccine research, she discovered her passion for spatial proteomics while playing a key role in establishing Akoya’s Opal multiplex IHC platform (later rebranded as PhenoImager) at Fred Hutch. Later, she took on CODEX (rebranded as PhenoCycler) and is currently exploring ways to incorporate spatial transcriptomics into a more comprehensive spatial omics framework. These advancements include leveraging her image analysis expertise in collaboration with pathologists and bioinformaticians to generate new analysis workflows.

John Hickey

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University

John is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. His lab is composed of a diverse set of engineers and scientists solving health problems by using and developing systems biology tools and technologies to describe and control spatial relationships between cells in tissues. John completed his postdoctoral training in Garry Nolan’s lab at Stanford University and his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University with Dr. Jonathan Schneck and Hai-Quan Mao. John has been recognized by a number of organizations for his work including receiving: American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship, NCI Postdoctoral Fellowship, ARCS Scholar, Siebel Scholar, and NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

David Gallegos

Senior Scientist, Takeda

David Gallegos received his PhD in Neurobiology in the lab of Anne West at Duke University, where most of his work existed at the crossroads of neuronal activity-regulated transcription, epigenomic modification, and mechanisms of neuronal plasticity. He subsequently pursued an R-Authority postdoctoral position at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he applied multiple single-cell genomic and transcriptional profiling methods into more diverse organ systems and advanced in vitro organ/developmental models. Currently, David is a Senior Scientist at Takeda Pharmaceuticals on their Investigative Toxicology Team within the department of Drug Safety Research and Evaluation. In his role at Takeda, he supports all manner of cross-project single-cell/spatial Omics analysis, Advanced in vitro Neuronal models, cross-platform Neurotoxicity assessments, and Bioinformatics

Jay Nakamura Clark

Director of Sales, Stellaromics, Inc

Jay Nakamura Clark is the Associate Director of Sales at Stellaromics, where he leads commercial strategy and customer engagement for Pyxa—the first platform to enable true 3D spatial genomics. Jay brings experience launching the previous generation of spatial technologies and is now focused on bringing 3D spatial analysis to the research market. Prior to Stellaromics, he held roles at Illumina, Arima Genomics, and NanoString Technologies.

Sayani Bhattacharjee

Supervisor, Field Applications Scientist, Bruker Spatial Biology

Sayani Bhattacharjee is the Field Application Scientist Supervisor for North America–East at Bruker Spatial Biology, where she leads scientific enablement and training efforts across the company’s spatial platforms: nCounter®, GeoMx® DSP, CosMx™ SMI, and CellScape™. With a strong foundation in biomedical research and over three years of hands-on experience in spatial biology, Sayani partners with scientists across leading institutions to drive experimental success and data-driven discovery. She has presented at institutional, regional, and international meetings and is a trusted advisor on both the technical and analytical aspects of spatial workflows. Passionate about the power of spatial resolution at single-cell scale, she actively works to define and disseminate best practices in the field. Her mission is to bridge cutting-edge spatial technologies with translational research goals, empowering scientists to extract meaningful biological insights from complex tissue architectures

Manisha Ray

Director Application Development, Vizgen + Ultivue

Manisha has extensive experience applying new technologies to advance scientific research, spanning proteomics, genomics, imaging, and bioinformatics, particular in the study of cancer. She received her PhD in Biochemistry from UCSF, where she developed new tools to isolate proteases involved in cancer progression. Moving to industry, she helped launch the first commercial system for single-cell genomics, ushering in a new era in biological research. Manisha next managed the NCI-funded Cancer Genomics Cloud platform, democratizing the analysis of large cancer datasets by transitioning them to cloud computing, including spatial analysis. She is the Director of Application Development at Vizgen.

Corinne Ramos

R&D Director, Aliri Bioanalysis

With more than 20 years of experience leading innovative research and clinical programs, Corinne Ramos, Ph.D., is known for driving clinical development to successful commercialization. She has worked extensively on the identification and development of biomarkers to predict therapeutic outcomes. Corinne’s operational experience includes overseeing R&D, product development and clinical laboratory operations and she has published 35+ publications.
Her areas of expertise are:
• Clinical Assay/Biomarker Development Validation
• Molecular Oncology and Imaging in Oncology/Diagnostics
Corinne Ramos received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University Paul Sabatier (Toulouse, France) and an MBA from the Johns Hopkins University-Carey Business School (Washington DC, USA).

Feifan Yu

CSO, AlphaThera, Inc

Feifan Yu, Ph.D., is the Chief Scientific Officer at AlphaThera Inc., where she spearheads innovation in protein engineering and bioconjugation technologies. She earned her Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. Since joining AlphaThera in 2017, Dr. Yu has led several NIH-funded research projects and generated multiple patents or patent applications focused on site-specific protein labeling and conjugation. Her innovation has been pivotal in developing robust, scalable technologies to enable high-performance tools for advanced biological research, contributing to advancements in diagnostics and therapeutics. With over a decade of experience in site-specific antibody conjugation and assay development, she integrates scientific expertise with strategic leadership – driving product development, building partnerships, and supporting customer success.

Arvind Rao

Professor of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Arvind Rao is a Professor in the Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics at the University of Michigan. His group uses image analysis and machine learning methods to link image-derived phenotypes with genetic data, across biological scale (i.e. single cell, tissue and radiology data). Such methods have found application in radiogenomics, drug repurposing based on phenotypic screens and spatial profiling in tissue, as well as in spatial transcriptomics. Arvind received his PhD in Electrical Engineering and Bioinformatics from the University of Michigan, specializing in transcriptional genomics, and was a Lane Postdoctoral Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in bioimage informatics.

Srijit Seal

Visiting Scientist, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and University of Cambridge

Srijit Seal is a researcher specializing in chemoinformatics. His research uses machine learning techniques to predict drug bioactivity, safety, and toxicity, particularly modeling and interpretation of the Cell Painting assay. Srijit has previously worked in multiple startups in the UK and US and active engages with the community to advance AI in drug discovery.

American Spatial Biology Congress

#spatialbiologycongressUS We are on the move to Columbus Ohio in 2026!

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2025 Speakers

Alina Isakova

Ahmet Coskun

Marina Bleck

Michael Surace

Alina Isakova

Ahmet Coskun

Marina Bleck

Michael Surace

Alexander Xu

Jiwoon Park

Tatiana Novitskaya

Nicholas Dove

Amos Lee

Deidre Dalmas

Kimberly Smythe

John Hickey

David Gallegos

Jay Nakamura Clark

Sayani Bhattacharjee

Manisha Ray

Corinne Ramos

Feifan Yu

Arvind Rao

Srijit Seal

Alina Isakova

Ahmet Coskun

Marina Bleck

Michael Surace

Alexander Xu

Jiwoon Park

Tatiana Novitskaya

Nicholas Dove

Amos Lee

Deidre Dalmas

Kimberly Smythe

John Hickey

David Gallegos

Jay Nakamura Clark

Sayani Bhattacharjee

Manisha Ray

Corinne Ramos

Feifan Yu

Arvind Rao

Srijit Seal

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