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Democratizing Microscopy: Training the Trainers, Expanding Capacity Worldwide

Through capacity-building and collaboration, Professor Claire Brown is advancing microscopy education and research worldwide.

When Claire Brown, PhD, Professor in 海角精品黑料鈥檚 Department of Physiology at the School of Biomedical Sciences and Director of 海角精品黑料鈥檚 Advanced BioImaging Facility (ABIF), looks into a microscope, she is just as attentive to what happens on this side of the lens as to what lies beneath it. She knows that there is always a human being on the macroscopic side of the lens: a student eager to learn, a colleague searching for answers, or a researcher striving to solve a problem.聽

A synthetic AI image (cyan) generated in the Brown Lab mimics real cell structure (magenta).

For decades, Prof. Brown has combined scientific excellence with a deep commitment to teaching, ensuring that the tools of discovery are shared, accessible, and transformative around the world.

At the heart of this effort lies the Train-the-Trainer (TtT) initiative, launched in Montreal in 2023 through the internationally renowned Montreal Light Microscopy Course (MLMC). Beyond training researchers in microscopy, the program equips imaging specialists with the tools, teaching materials, and pedagogical confidence to run their own microscopy courses in their institutions and countries.

A global ripple effect

Since its launch, the TtT program has already trained 37 imaging scientists and supported six microscopy fundamentals courses, training 120 researchers in just over two years.

Overall, the TtT initiative has impacted 220 people across 16 countries including聽Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, Sweden, the United States, and Uruguay.

Among these, Argentina and Uruguay have emerged as particularly meaningful success stories. Working in collaboration with colleagues at the and the , Prof. Brown and her team helped establish the country鈥檚 first Spanish-language microscopy training tailored to local needs.

Prof. Claire Brown and Marcela D铆az, MSc
Central to this effort was Marcela D铆az, MSc, Imaging Scientist and Facility Manager at the Advanced Bioimaging Unit (UBA), who adapted and delivered the microscopy fundamentals program to ensure that young researchers could learn in their own language and within their own research context, and Andres Rossi, PhD, Imaging Scientist and Facility Manager of the Imaging, Microscopy and Cytometry Core Facility at the in Buenos Aires hosted the first Latin America TtT course and gathered his Latin Americian colleagues as faculty to train the Argentina research community.
Prof. Claire Brown and Andres Rossi, PhD
Together, their leadership helped expand capacity across Latin America, showing how the TtT model empowers scientists not only to acquire skills but to become catalysts for broader regional impact.

More than technology: Building communities

The science of bioimaging underpins some of the most critical research of our time, from understanding the fundamental processes of life, to developing new therapies for cancer and infectious diseases. Yet, access to training and infrastructure varies widely across regions of the world. By empowering local trainers, the 海角精品黑料-led initiative ensures that knowledge is shared, contextualized, and expanded globally.

Prof. Brown鈥檚 leadership is rooted in her role at 海角精品黑料鈥檚 Advanced BioImaging Facility (ABIF), which serves over 120 laboratories and about 300 researchers across 海角精品黑料, and beyond. Her team has long been recognized for excellence in training, innovation, and international collaboration in advanced microscopy.

But what distinguishes the TtT model is its emphasis on relationships. 鈥淲hat I find most rewarding, beyond teaching microscopy, is seeing early-career imaging scientists take the materials I have developed, adapt them, and make them their own,鈥 Prof. Brown says. 鈥淭he Train-the-Trainer model empowers people to lead in their own communities, providing a springboard to succeed and drive real change.鈥

This approach has already fostered South-South collaborations between Latin American and African scientists, created opportunities for early-career researchers to step into leadership roles, and inspired networks that continue to grow.

As 海角精品黑料 Vice-President, Global Engagement Anja Geitmann notes: 鈥淧rofessor Brown鈥檚 work shows how one person鈥檚 vision can spark a global, impactful movement. By empowering scientists to become trainers in their own academic communities, she has multiplied knowledge, strengthened partnerships, and advanced 海角精品黑料鈥檚 mission of engagement with the world.鈥

Illuminating the path 海角精品黑料

Prof. Brown鈥檚 work is guided by a simple conviction: science advances most powerfully when knowledge is shared, and when passion for discovery is matched by a commitment to teaching others. 海角精品黑料鈥檚 Train-the-Trainer initiative shows how one initiative can help illuminate not only cells under the microscope but also the pathways to global capacity, connection, and discovery.

Building on the momentum

The success of the Train-the-Trainer program is only the beginning. More microscopy training courses are planned, with the next TtT version set to launch in Melbourne, Australia from November 17-21.

And from October 6-10, 2025, Professor Brown, 聽(CBI) and the聽聽hosted the global imaging community for聽, a joint gathering organized by聽聽(GBI) and聽听(叠滨狈础),听迟颈迟濒别诲 Imaging in 2035: Sustaining Infrastructure Ecosystems & Advanced Technologies. This event brought together over 450 people (~50% virtual) from more than 40 countries to explore the聽sustainable future of imaging infrastructures and highlight the role of international networks in advancing science.

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