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History of the Annual Course in Flow Cytometry

by Mark E. Munson

The Annual Course in Flow Cytometry has been given every year since around 1979. The origins of the course started at the University of Rochester under the direction of Dr. Paul Horan and Dr. Kathy Muirhead. Since then, the course has moved around and evolved considerably. Cytometry Educational Associates, Inc., a non-profit umbrella organization, now coordinates the efforts of several local organizing groups.

In 1984 it was decided that two separate types of courses were needed to better serve the cytometry community: a research applications course, primarily targeted at research and cutting edge types of applications; and a clinical applications course, generally focused on more clinical types of applications. Although there is much overlap between these two types of courses, the course organizers generally pick topics that conform to this distinction.

The research course is alternately hosted by the NIH/NCRR funded National Flow Cytometry Resource at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Verity Software House, Inc. On the odd years the course is held at Los Alamos Laboratory, New Mexico, and on the even years it is held at Bowdoin College, Maine. Normally the research course is offered in the first or second week in June.

The clinical course now alternates between three institutions: Northwestern University in Chicago, Roswell Park in New York, and University of Pittsburgh. The courses are normally offered later in the summer.

In early 1989, Dr. C. Bruce Bagwell was asked by Dr. Kathy Muirhead if he would like to organize the next flow cytometry course on behalf of Cytometry Educational Associates, coming up in 1990. Having been active in prior courses as faculty, and thinking that perhaps this would be a one-time deal, Bruce readily agreed. That decision has led to a commitment to quality cytometry education that has spanned nearly two decades. Since 1990, and every two years thereafter, the annual research course on the campus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, has provided state-of-the-art information on important cutting-edge topics in cytometry. Nationally recognized instructors organize hands-on laboratories and present related lectures to avid flow cytometrists who are eager to improve their craft. The course is held on the traditional New England Bowdoin College campus with wide green courtyards and ivy-covered buildings. Comprising 20+ hours of lectures and 24+ hours of hands-on laboratories, each course is an opportunity to learn, to network with fellow flow-ers, meet worldclass faculty face-to-face, and create deep, new friendships. All the instructors love to teach, and their enthusiasm about this technology is definitely infectious. Add to all this activity a special guest lecturer, a traditional Maine lobster bake, and some good old Yankee entertainment and you’re close to describing the course.

Here is a summary of cumulative statistics for the courses held so far, which indicate that 1) flow cytometry is alive and well, and 2) that good cytometry is a collaborative effort of dedicated companies, support personnel, researchers and academics: