Self-Driving, Multi-Scale Imaging of Cellular Dynamics Across Scales
Event details
| Date | 11.12.2025 |
| Hour | 11:00 › 12:00 |
| Speaker | Stephan Daetwyler, Ph.D., UT Southwestern, Dallas, TX (USA) |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
2-DAY BIOE MINI-SYMPOSIUM on Measurement Technologies
(talk six / previous talk)
Abstract:
Most biological processes, from development to pathogenesis, span multiple spatial and temporal scales. However, it has remained a fundamental challenge to simultaneously image across these scales1. In my talk, I will discuss my innovations in microscopy, systems engineering and programming to address this gap. Specifically, I will present a novel self-driving, multi-scale light-sheet imaging platform3 that combines low-resolution light-sheet microscopy with high-resolution axially-swept light-sheet microscopy (ASLM). It enables observation and quantification of cellular and subcellular behaviors in the context of intact and developing organisms. Importantly, the microscope is self-driving as it continuously analyses the low-resolution data to guide high-resolution imaging autonomously over time, thereby enabling imaging over many hours to days.
To demonstrate the power of my imaging system, I will present studies of developmental processes, cancer invasion and metastasis, and quantifications of immune-cancer cell interactions in situ in a zebrafish xenograft model. Interestingly, cancer cell lines with a high metastatic potential resisted phagocytosis by macrophages despite close interactions, while less metastatic cells were efficiently cleared. Looking forward, the applicability of my innovations to identify and provide mechanistic insights across scales in studies of development, regeneration and disease are imminent.
Bio:
Stephan Daetwyler is an Instructor in the lab of Reto Fiolka at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, USA. His broader research goal is to develop smart, integrated technological platforms to quantitatively visualize, perturb and analyze the molecular mechanisms that drive processes in development, regeneration, and disease such as cancer.
Stephan studied Interdisciplinary Sciences at ETH Zürich with a major in physics and biology. For his doctoral thesis, he joined the lab of Dr. Jan Huisken, a pioneer of light-sheet microscopy at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Germany to image and quantify vascular development with multidimensional light-sheet microscopy. Supported by an Early Postdoc Mobility Fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation, he joined the lab of Dr. Reto Fiolka and Dr. Gaudenz Danuser to develop self-driving, smart microscopy technologies to study development, cancer metastasis and regeneration across scales.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7444-4734
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=afsvg7wAAAAJ&hl=en
Website: https://www.stephandaetwyler.wordpress.com/
Zoom link for attending remotely, if needed: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/66947851573
(talk six / previous talk)
Abstract:
Most biological processes, from development to pathogenesis, span multiple spatial and temporal scales. However, it has remained a fundamental challenge to simultaneously image across these scales1. In my talk, I will discuss my innovations in microscopy, systems engineering and programming to address this gap. Specifically, I will present a novel self-driving, multi-scale light-sheet imaging platform3 that combines low-resolution light-sheet microscopy with high-resolution axially-swept light-sheet microscopy (ASLM). It enables observation and quantification of cellular and subcellular behaviors in the context of intact and developing organisms. Importantly, the microscope is self-driving as it continuously analyses the low-resolution data to guide high-resolution imaging autonomously over time, thereby enabling imaging over many hours to days.
To demonstrate the power of my imaging system, I will present studies of developmental processes, cancer invasion and metastasis, and quantifications of immune-cancer cell interactions in situ in a zebrafish xenograft model. Interestingly, cancer cell lines with a high metastatic potential resisted phagocytosis by macrophages despite close interactions, while less metastatic cells were efficiently cleared. Looking forward, the applicability of my innovations to identify and provide mechanistic insights across scales in studies of development, regeneration and disease are imminent.
- Daetwyler and Fiolka (2023). Comm. Biology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04857-4
- Daetwyler et al. (2025). Nature Methods. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-025-02598-2
Bio:
Stephan Daetwyler is an Instructor in the lab of Reto Fiolka at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, USA. His broader research goal is to develop smart, integrated technological platforms to quantitatively visualize, perturb and analyze the molecular mechanisms that drive processes in development, regeneration, and disease such as cancer.
Stephan studied Interdisciplinary Sciences at ETH Zürich with a major in physics and biology. For his doctoral thesis, he joined the lab of Dr. Jan Huisken, a pioneer of light-sheet microscopy at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Germany to image and quantify vascular development with multidimensional light-sheet microscopy. Supported by an Early Postdoc Mobility Fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation, he joined the lab of Dr. Reto Fiolka and Dr. Gaudenz Danuser to develop self-driving, smart microscopy technologies to study development, cancer metastasis and regeneration across scales.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7444-4734
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=afsvg7wAAAAJ&hl=en
Website: https://www.stephandaetwyler.wordpress.com/
Zoom link for attending remotely, if needed: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/66947851573
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
- Prof. Georg Fantner, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, EPFL
Contact
- Institute of Bioengineering (IBI), Dietrich REINHARD