Join one of our Free Technology Workshops

A new feature of Queenstown Research Week this year is two days of highly practical workshops. These are aimed at bringing scientists up to speed with cutting edge technologies and will be open to registrants from any meeting held during the week.

Registration is free but required. Register today, space is limited.

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 Tuesday 1 September, 9–10am, Clancy's room, Rydges Hotel
 Wednesday 2 September, 9–10am, Wakatipu room, Rydges Hotel
 Wednesday 2 September, 10.30–11.30am, Wakatipu room, Rydges Hotel
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Digital PCR for everyone
 

Tuesday 1 September, 9–10am, Clancy's room, Rydges Hotel

In this two-part update, hear a Digital PCR technology overview, as well as, a real-world example from Professor Alison Heather, Chair, Professor of Physiology at Otago School of Medical Sciences.

Historically, the adoption of digital PCR was limited due to cumbersome workflows and the high cost to implement. Now, these barriers are removed bringing digital PCR to any lab. Digital PCR also expands the application boundaries of traditional real-time PCR by enabling absolute quantification without the use of a standard curve.

Learning’s:

  • How to achieve more with less, with limited sample material.
  • How to simplify your workflow with load and go, turn-key chip-based technology.
  • Hear a practical application from Professor Alison Heather on Androgens and calcification in advanced atherosclerosis.

Next-Generation Sequencing and the Drive to Personalized Medicine

Wednesday 2 September, 9–10am, Wakatipu room, Rydges Hotel

Each of us is genetically unique, and thus understanding how our genes impact our health and development is a driving force in the evolution of personalized medicine.

Recent advances in technology have fundamentally changed the way we can explore an individual’s underlying biology, whether at the DNA or RNA level (or both) and arguably the greatest impact has been provided by next-generation sequencing (NGS).

This workshop, which will explore how NGS is opening up the field of personalized medicine, aims to demystify some of the fundamental concepts of NGS and to deliver relevant examples of how massively parallel sequencing is already being used in clinical research settings.

The workshop assumes no prior knowledge of or experience with NGS and will guide participants from the very basics, through to more advanced topics.

The Next Generation in Flow Cytometry- Acoustic Focusing

Wednesday 2 September, 10.30–11.30am, Wakatipu room, Rydges Hotel

Acoustic Focusing Cytometry is a new technology that changes the paradigm of sample preparation and analysis for flow cytometry. Acoustics are applied to the sample to provide a tight flow of cells or particles for interrogation by the flow cell. This allows for rapid flow rates, without loss of sensitivity, fundamentally changing inherent limitations of traditional flow cytometers.

To take full advantages of these possibilities, it is important to understand the fundamental benefits and limitations of this technology, and how it can be applied to your research.

Researchers involved in analysis of blood, homogenized tissues, microbial populations, micro particles or difficult to analyse samples should attend to better understand how acoustic focusing can help them improve their data quality.