Robert F. Murphy

Robert F. Murphy earned an A. B. in Biochemistry from Columbia College in 1974 and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1980. He was a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Foundation postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Charles R. Cantor at Columbia University from 1979 through 1983, after which he became an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation shortly after joining the faculty at Carnegie Mellon in 1983 and has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the Arthritis Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. He has co-edited two books and two special journal issues on "Cell and Molecular Imaging," and published over 120 research papers. He is currently Professor of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, Voting Faculty Member in the Center for Automated Learning and Discovery in the School of Computer Science, and Director (with Jelena Kovacevic) of the Center for Biomedical Image Informatics at Carnegie Mellon. He also directs (with Ivet Bahar) the joint CMU-Pitt Ph.D. Program in Computational Biology.

The focus of his career has been on combining fluorescence-based cell measurement methods with quantitative and computational methods. His group at Carnegie Mellon did extensive work on the application of flow cytometry to analyze endocytic membrane traffic beginning in the early 1980's and pioneered the application of machine learning methods to high-resolution fluorescence microscope images depicting subcellular location patterns in the mid 1990's. This work led to the development of the first systems for automatically recognizing all major organelle patterns in 2D and 3D images.

His leadership experience includes developing the first formal undergraduate program in computational biology in 1987 and founding the Merck Computational Biology and Chemistry program at Carnegie Mellon in 1999. These program were important forerunners to the establishment in 2005 of a Ph.D. program in computational biology that is run jointly with the University of Pittsburgh. This program was recently chosen as one of only ten awardees by the new HHMI-NIBIB Interfaces Initiative (Dr. Murphy is principal investigator on that grant). He has played a significant role in outreach for undergraduates, directing a summer research program for students underrepresented in science and engineering since 1996. With B.S. Manjunath at the University of California, Santa Barbara he led a major effort to create a new multi-institution, NSF-funded $9.4 million program in bioimage informatics that is bridging biology, cytometry, engineering and computer science. He has also played leadership roles in recreation and athletics organizations in his community.

His contributions to ISAC have included co-authoring the original proposal of the Flow Cytometry Standard data file format in 1984 and facilitating the adoption of that standard by the cytometry community during the mid 1980's. He has served on the ISAC Data Standards Committee for over a decade, and is co-chair (with Howard Shapiro) of the Cytometry Development Workshop held each year in Asilomar (taking over from co-founder Phil Dean in 1998). He has been an ISAC Councillor since May 2004, and has taken on the important task of chairing the Scientific Communications Committee. In that capacity he has led crucial efforts to partner with Paul Robinson's group at Purdue University to provide an enhanced web site for ISAC and to negotiate and sign a new contract with Wiley-Liss, Inc. to publish Cytometry on terms favorable to ISAC (based on major initial work by Fred Waldman, the prior committee chair). He is leading the ISAC strategic planning for Communications and is an active member of the Planning Committee for the 2006 ISAC Congress.

Campaign Statement

My initial goal if chosen as President-elect will be to continue the process of revitalization of the Society that has been put in place by current President Maria Pallavicini and President-elect Paul Robinson. In collaboration especially with the new Councillors that were elected in 2004 through the "Coalition for Change," Maria and Paul have led a thorough, creative and insightful strategic planning process with the goal of identifying concrete steps that will improve ISAC's standing in the exciting and growing field of technologies for cell analysis. I have been heavily involved in this process and am familiar with all aspects of the plan. I have extensive leadership experience both within Carnegie Mellon University and in outside service (such as being chosen as the first Chair when NIH created the Biological Data Management and Analysis study section).

In keeping with the strategic plan, I plan to especially continue and expand efforts to add student, postdoc and junior faculty members to the Society. I have brought a number of my own students into the society, and I firmly believe that the society needs to provide opportunities for its junior members to expand their training and assume positions as leaders of the future. Critical to this task will be providing opportunities for junior members who are making significant contributions to the field to have those contributions highlighted in the society's publications and at its meetings. We also need to provide expanded financial support for junior members to attend the ISAC Congress.

I also plan to continue to make improving communication with the cytometry community a priority for ISAC. A significant step in this direction has been taken through the establishment of the new ISAC web site under contract with Purdue University. This contract was initiated through the leadership of the Scientific Communications Committee that I chair. Improved communication will involve not just dissemination of information from ISAC to members but also providing frequent and simple opportunities for members to provide feedback and ideas to ISAC leadership. Continuing to improve the financial situation of the Society is important, and the combination of careful fiscal management and further strengthening the impact of Cytometry will play an important role there.

Perhaps the most important reason why I ask for your vote as President-elect is my commitment to expanding our society's presence in the growing and exciting area of image cytometry. I have been very active on the Congress planning committee in recruiting both senior and junor scientists doing cutting edge microscopy and image analysis. While our society's leading position in flow cytometry is critical to our mission, we must also strengthen our position in image cytometry so that our society will be the leading technical organization for all methodologies for cell analysis. This will be done not just through adding scientists and engineers who are developing new imaging technologies but also by involving our many members who manage top-notch core facilities that include both flow and image cytometry. We must continue to grow ISAC as a truly international society that plays a role in education, research and professional development for members from all around the world.

I believe ISAC's position must also be enhanced through strategic partnerships with societies in allied areas, from basic cell, developmental and molecular biology to engineering and computer science. These partnerships should include jointly-sponsored meetings and publications. I have extensive familiarity with and contacts within such organizations and have experience with organizing conferences (one of the major responsibilities of the President-elect). The importance of improving collaboration between ISAC and groups involved with clinical cytometry must also be stressed.

I have been a member of ISAC for over 25 years and I appreciate both the contributions of its members to the field and the opportunities I have had through the society to get to know many members over the years. These are crucial times for ISAC and I ask for your support in providing dynamic leadership and strategic vision that will realize the society's enormous potential.