The program for the EMBO Workshop on Visualising Biological Data (VIZBI 2019) is now available. The meeting takes place March 13-15 at EMBL Heidelberg, Germany, and marks the 10th Anniversary of VIZBI. The 2019 meeting features keynotes from Hadley Wickham, Janet Iwasa, and Moritz Stefaner plus talks from 18 leading researchers, reviewing how data visualization is transforming life science research.
Our team have published a review entitled “Visualization of Biomedical Data.’ In this review, we summarize key principles and resources for data visualization, that help to address today’s challenges in communication and clinical practice. We also outline the ongoing initiatives aimed at improving visualization practices in biomedical research. These include development of new tools, peer-to-peer learning, and interdisciplinary collaboration between computer scientists, science communicators, and graphic designers. Such changes in visualisation methods are completely revolutionizing the way that we see and think about our data.
Read the full review here.
We are excited to announce that the next EMBO Workshop on ‘Visualizing Biological Data’ (VIZBI 2019) will take place from 13-15 March 2019.
This will be the 10th annual international meeting on this topic and, appropriately, will take place where VIZBI began – at the EMBL Advanced Training Centre in Heidelberg, Germany.
We plan to celebrate our 10th anniversary with several special activities, including talks from previous speakers, where they will share perspectives on how visualization has evolved over the past decade to drive advancements in their fields.
We hope you can join us for this special event. In the meantime, please mark the VIZBI 2019 dates in your calendars!
The award for Best Scientific Poster at VIZBI 2018 was won by ‘Visual Storytelling in Mechanobiology‘, a collaborative work by Diego Pitta de Araujo, Steven Wolf, Andrew Wong, Sruti Jagannathan, Wei Ting Melanie Lee, Lakshmi Ramachandran, Kyaw Tun, Jean-Francois Rupprecht, and Michael Sheetz. The team are based at the National University of Singapore and also at Columbia University, USA. Congratulations to the team – they receive a one-year subscription to Clarafi, a scientific visualisation portal offering high quality video training, resources, and tools to support those interested in improving their skills.
This year, the prize for best Art and Biology submission went to Kyle McClary and Trisha Williams (The Bridge Institute at USC, USA) for their artwork ‘The World in a Cell‘. This work questions what we can learn about the human cell by analogy to complex urban systems, and how we might rethink the future of cities by studying cells. The Association of Medical Illustrators has awarded a 5 minute speaking slot at their Annual Conference in Boston this June, with special discount registration. 
There are still a few tickets left for both VIZBI Showcase: Science Reimagined (Today, 6:00-7:30 p.m.) and the Data Visualization Masterclass (Tomorrow, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.). Both events take place at the New York Genome Center (101 Ave Of The Americas, New York, NY 10013). Email contact@vizbi.org if you have any queries.
The first photos from VIZBI 2018 are available at https://vizbi.org/2018/Photos/. If you have more, upload them to Flickr & tag with ‘vizbi’ – they will automatically appear on the above page.
This year’s award for best scientific poster is a free, one-year subscription to Clarafi, a scientific visualization portal offering high quality video training, resources, and tools to support those interested in improving their skills. Please cast your vote for best poster at https://vizbi.org/Posters/Poll/.
The best submission to VIZBI 2018’s Art and Biology event will be awarded a 5 minute speaking slot at the Association of Medical Illustrator’s Annual Conference in Boston this June, with special discount registration. Please cast your vote for best poster at https://vizbi.org/Posters/Poll/.
Scientific posters for VIZBI 2018 are now online at https://vizbi.org/posters/2018.
This Friday in the VIZBI 2018 session on Tissues & Organisms, Richard Smith from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, will speak about visualization of morphogenesis processes. The aim of his work is to achieve full 3D quantification of cell shape and gene expression, with changes over time. Due to the challenges in obtaining this, MorphoGraphX was developed to process the images. He will present examples using this software on plant organs, and inroads towards developing an integrated environment for computational morphodynamics on surfaces. Further information on Richard’s talk is available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Rickard_Smith.
In the Proteins session of VIZBI 2018 next week, Sameer Velankar from European Bioinformatics Institute (UK) will speak about how rapid advances in structure determination techniques are transforming structural biology, elucidating a range of biological processes at a molecular level. To help expert and non-expert wwPDB users, these data are integrated in visualisation. Sameer will describe these approaches using images and interactive tools. Further information on Sameer’s talk is available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Sameer_Velankar.
Next week, as part of the VIZBI 2018 session on DNA, Marcin Imielinski from New York Genome Centre (USA), will speak about structural DNA variants that drive cancer progression and render tumors sensitive to drugs. A key obstacle for understanding is difficulty in seeing beyond shreds of sequence in our genome. Marcin will review state of the art approaches in understanding, introducing the paradigm of a cancer graph genome to detect recurrent mutational signatures. Further information on Marcin’s talk is available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/Marcin_Imielinski.
In the VIZBI 2018 session on Populations next week, Daniel Janies from University of North Carolina at Charlotte (USA) will speak about Multidrug resistant bacteria (“Superbugs”). Genomic sequencing labs collect genetic data on bacterial pathogens called Genome Trakr, to scan for genes that confer antibiotic resistance. Dan will discuss tools and cases from his work that apply visual analytics to this. Further information on Dan’s talk is available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/2018/Daniel_Janies.
In next week’s session on Tissues at VIZBI 2018, James Michaelson from Massachusetts General Hospital (USA) will speak about how Micro CT may be used to provide high-resolution 3D images in biology and surgery. Micro CT has allowed many specimens to be shared and viewed (see example), opening up new possibilities, in particular in cancer surgery. James demonstrates that Micro CT can provide useful 3D images, including identifying positive breast cancer patients in 10 minutes. Further information on James’s talk is available https://vizbi.org/Talks/James_Michaelson.
Next Thursday during the VIZBI 2018 session on Cellular Systems, John “Scooter” Morris from University of California (USA), will speak about systems biology and recording the state of cells using high-throughput techniques. His talk will include will include examples of exploratory visualization techniques and will end with an exploratory approach to a complicated visualization challenge. Further information is available at https://vizbi.org/Talks/John_Morris.
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.
