Industry Workshop Information

Friday, April 21, 2023
10:15 a.m. PDT
Exploration Stage

Speakers: Tim Cook, Domestic Account Manager, BIOPAC Systems, Inc. and Aimee Walker, Western Account Manager, BIOPAC Systems, Inc.

Ramp Up Your Research and Teaching with Modular, Multimodal Data Acquisition and Analysis
Whether you’re a first-time physiology instructor running labs, a more seasoned instructor initiating and developing educational research projects, or working to advance your research endeavors, BIOPAC has the system options for you. From turn-key teaching systems with approved curricula to the latest technology covering a broad spectrum of physiological measures, BIOPAC can help you achieve your goals and provide you with the tools you need for success. Attend this workshop to learn how to utilize best-in-class research and teaching systems that span applications such as:

• electrocardiogram,
• Electromyography,
• electroencephalogram,
• Functional near-infrared spectroscopy,
• blood pressure,
• virtual reality,
• electrical stimulation and more.

Friday, April 21, 2023
12:15 p.m. PDT
Innovation Stage

Speaker: Sarah Burris, PhD, Scientific Application Liaison, FujiFilm VisualSonics

The Vevo F2 LARZ-X: Searching High and Low
FUJIFILM VisualSonics presents the “Vevo F2 LAZR-X: Searching high and low” imaging workshop, where you’ll learn about the newest multimodal system that is changing how you “see” in vivo research. If you work with large or small animals in the fields of cardiology, oncology, neurology, kidney, liver, or lung research; reproductive, developmental, or vascular biology; drug discovery or bioengineering, this workshop is for you! This interactive session includes two scientific talks and hands-on scanning. Every participant will receive a complimentary lunch and a special door prize. Two lucky attendees will win an INSTAX® Camera! We encourage principal investigators to attend. Registration slots for students are limited.

Saturday, April 22, 2023
12:15 p.m. PDT
Innovation Stage

Speaker: Kathy Garner, PhD, Technical Resource Scientist, Kent Scientific

Room Air vs. 100% O2: Considerations for Anesthetic Delivery
Many researchers report using 100% oxygen (O2) as a carrier gas for inhalant anesthetic. However, existing literature suggests various benefits to using 21% oxygen (room air) as a carrier gas, as well as limited differences between room air and 100% O2. Here, we discuss the benefits and risks of using room air versus. 100% O2 in order for researchers to make an informed decision regarding carrier gasses. We will also go over features of the SomnoFlo low-flow anesthetic vaporizer, especially how its ability to use room air or oxygen can provide researchers with more freedom to make the carrier gas decision that is right for them.

Friday, April 21, 2023
10:15 a.m. PDT
Innovation Stage

Speaker: Kara Wendel, PhD , Product Manager, Scintica

Small Animal Imaging: Modalities and Applications
Small animal imaging enables longitudinal investigation of physiological processes ranging from the molecular level to whole animal. A wide variety of imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, intravital microscopy, ultrasound and others, can provide key insights into mechanistic questions. Small animal imaging provides anatomical, functional and molecular information which can be combined for multimodal imaging to illuminate various biological processes simultaneously or sequentially for the precise longitudinal monitoring of healthy physiology and disease progression in animal models. Utilizing small animal imaging can enhance physiology research centered around life, health and disease.

Saturday, April 22, 2023
12:15 p.m. PDT
Exploration Stage

Speakers: Aaron James Polichnowski, PhD, FAHA, Associate Professor, East Tennessee State University and Christopher West, PhD, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia

Untethering Pressure-flow Relationships: Advances in Cardiac and Renal Telemetric Monitoring
This workshop will present state of the art telemetric recordings from conscious, freely moving rodents to define novel pressure-flow relationships in both cardiac and renal applications. Aaron Polichnowski, PhD, FAHA, will focus on renal blood flow autoregulation, its assessment challenges and new analytical techniques. Christopher West, PhD, will discuss the benefits that telemetric solutions offer to the measurement and understanding of cardiovascular physiology in small and large animal models of health and disease. More broadly, Polichnowski and West will review the exciting future that telemetric pressure-flow relationships offer to advance our current understanding of fundamental principles within hemodynamic and cardiac research.

Saturday, April 22, 2023
10:15 a.m. PDT
Exploration Stage

Speaker: Daniela Oettler, PhD, Scientific Director, North America, TSE Systems

Automated Rodent Home Cage Testing for Metabolic, Behavioral and Physiological
Behavioral data are hard to reproduce due to the nature of subtle behavioral differences and influencing factors. Home cage testing increases stability of results and therefore reproducibility, as well as animal welfare. In this presentation, we will introduce solutions for single-, group- and colony-housed rodents and discuss their applications. Join us for an interactive session!

Friday, April 21, 2023
12:15 p.m. PDT
Exploration Stage

Speakers: Peter Hunter, FRS, Director, Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland, New Zealand and Zixi Jack Cheng, PhD, Professor, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando

Comparison Across Species, Individuals and Disease States Enabled by Spatial Mapping with the SPARC DRC
The sympathetic nervous system is essential not only to cardiac functions such as heart rate, contractility and conduction velocity, but also cardiomyocyte size and neurotrophic support. Modeling the anatomical organization of the heart’s efferent innervation could prove essential to improving neuromodulation treatments toward specific targeted therapies as the spatial representation may be modified by disease states. In this session, Zixi Jack Cheng, PhD, and Peter Hunter, FRS, introduce methods for spatial mapping of peripheral nervous system connectivity and the process and utility of integrating ex vivo mapping of multimodal, multiscale data to common coordinate 3D scaffolds in normal and sleep apnea models.

Saturday, April 22, 2023
4:15 p.m. PDT
Exploration Stage

Speaker: Andrew Weitz, PhD, Program Director, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)

SPARC Emerging Scientists: Investigations in Peripheral Nervous System Neuromodulation
This SPARC panel will feature presentations by 2023 SPARC Emerging Scientist awardees. These scientists will summarize their research encompassing modulation of the peripheral nervous system through targeted neural control of organ function. Their promising work in neuromodulation is in alignment with and bolsters SPARC’s mission of accelerating the development of therapeutic devices that modulate electrical activity in the vagus and other nerves to relieve conditions. National Institutes of Health Program Director Andrew Weitz, PhD, will chair the panel and provide a brief introduction to the SPARC program’s mission and accomplishments, as well as the exciting trajectory of the recently launched phase two.

Saturday, April 22, 2023
10:15 a.m. PDT
Innovation Stage

Speaker: Bradley Palmer, PhD, R&D Engineer / Assistant Professor, IonOptix / University of Vermont

Cardiac Tissue Slices: Preparation, Data Acquisition and Analysis
The goals of this seminar are to introduce the cardiac slice as an experimental model system of heart function; demonstrate the preparation of cardiac slices from a rat heart; and walk through three functional measurements that can be made with the cardiac slice (intracellular calcium regulation, isometric force production and mechanical work loops). By the end of this seminar, you’ll see that the cardiac slice is a useful experimental model system for studying cardiac function and is especially amenable to mimicking the pressure-volume relationship of the whole heart.