Timothy (Tim) Bushnell - candidate for Biological Councilor

I’m currently Co-Director of the Flow Cytometry Core Facility at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in Rochester, NY USA.

My journey to flow cytometry began humbly enough with a Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1999, studying plant-bacterial symbiotic associations. Changing focus, I left plant sciences to pursue post-doctoral studies with Dr. Fay Young at the University of Rochester, focusing on murine models of early B-cell development. It was during this time I came across flow cytometry and saw the incredible potential for this technology to impact many disciplines.

In 2003, I was appointed Associate and Director of the Center for Pediatric Biomedical Research’s flow cytometry facility, under the supervision of Dr. Craig T. Jordan, and in 2008 was appointed to my current position. My position puts me in direct contact with researchers and clinicians, across a broad spectrum of disciplines from immunology and cancer biology to stem cell biology and erythroid development.

I have been very active in the flow community since my post-doctoral studies. In 2003, I created and ran the 1st Western New York Flow Users Group meeting which is now in its 5th year. I’ve also served on the steering committee for the Great Lakes International Imaging and Flow Cytometry Association (GLIIFCA), where I served as president and program chair for GLIIFCA 16 (2007). I’ve also been involved in the North East Regional Life Sciences Core Directors (NERLSCD), as a panelist (2006) and moderator (2007) for flow cytometry.

My main research focus is the development and application of high-end flow cytometric assays to support the research programs of members of the CPBR and greater URMC community. I believe one of my strengths is in being able to collaborate with researchers in a wide variety of fields and disciplines which brings me into contact with a greater pool of potential ISAC members. Another of my strengths is my passion for developing flow cytometry applications, in particular, a current project involving applying imaging cytometry to the detection of minimal residual disease.

Candidate Statement

What I hope to bring to ISAC is an expansion of the existing programs which serve to unite and coordinate existing affiliated societies in North America and abroad. ISAC is uniquely positioned to support the growth and development of regional meetings and other events to facilitate professional networking and contacts directly related to cytometry. Networking at such meetings is a very effective way of communicating and sharing pertinent information about cytometry – often to those not affiliated with ISAC - which will increase membership as the benefits of ISAC association are presented to an untapped market.

These meetings can also serve as a clearinghouse to discuss and promulgate the ISAC initiatives including: education, data presentation, data file standardization, and biosafety. Getting this information in the hands of the casual user will greatly enhance ISAC’s efforts to affect wholesale change in the scientific community.

I'm very enthusiastic about adding my efforts to the ISAC - most specifically areas I have expertise in:

• Expanding the membership base in North America and abroad by developing ISAC initiated outreach programs, at the local and regional level. These programs will seek to identify the casual user of cytometry, and provide them with the methods, protocols and standards that ISAC has and will continue to develop.
• Finding, recognizing and recruiting cytometry facility core directors as a group vital to our membership and supporting them by offering ISAC models, standards, information, as well as an international resource to which they can come with problems, questions and issues.
• Supporting and building more regional meetings with a greater ISAC presence via an information kiosk, financial support for speakers, and a level of professional camaraderie that has been the hallmark of cytometry users around the world.
• Building stronger, mutually beneficial alliances with corporate sponsors at a regional level to facilitate a growing base of new and existing regional groups.

My experience in developing and growing the WNYFUG from nothing, as well as my training as a member and program chair of the long-running GLIIFCA meeting provides me the perspective and skill-set necessary to achieve these goals.

I am an avid supporter of technology, specifically cytometry based instrumentation, for the greater understanding of biology across the board - however, with such change and development as we've seen in just 20 years, that needs to be tempered with sound practices, strength of information, networking on a global scale so that we are keenly aware of both developments in cytometry as well as potential pitfalls. The key to this level of awareness on a global scale is by seeing and serving the regional areas, where those 'in the trenches' can find guidance and direction from those around the world.