John Lock
@locusj.bsky.social
Group Leader of the Cancer Systems Microscopy Lab at UNSW Sydney; using microscopy, data analysis & AI to advance cancer precision medicine
Reposted by John Lock
Deep multiplexed 50-marker imaging of circulating tumor cells expands actionable biomarker profiling for precision oncology https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.23.684075v1
October 24, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Deep multiplexed 50-marker imaging of circulating tumor cells expands actionable biomarker profiling for precision oncology https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.23.684075v1
Reposted by John Lock
Deep multiplexed 50-marker imaging of circulating tumor cells expands actionable biomarker profiling for precision oncology https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.23.684075v1
October 24, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Deep multiplexed 50-marker imaging of circulating tumor cells expands actionable biomarker profiling for precision oncology https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.23.684075v1
Reposted by John Lock
BioImage analysis friends - King's are recruiting for a full-time, permanent facility position! Come and work with fun microscopes and fun people (and me!) - please share! www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/126345-...
Bioimage Analysis Specialist | King's College London
www.kcl.ac.uk
September 29, 2025 at 9:48 AM
BioImage analysis friends - King's are recruiting for a full-time, permanent facility position! Come and work with fun microscopes and fun people (and me!) - please share! www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/126345-...
Reposted by John Lock
big one! a decade in the making. nadler & team develop tools to track lipid transport in living cells at single-species resolution. turns out non-vesicular, asymmetry-driven transport is the main architect of organelle identity. feels like the dawn of a golden era for lipid biology. rdcu.be/eBGJv
Quantitative imaging of lipid transport in mammalian cells
Nature - Directional, non-vesicular lipid transport is responsible for fast, species-selective lipid sorting into organelle membranes.
rdcu.be
August 21, 2025 at 8:51 AM
big one! a decade in the making. nadler & team develop tools to track lipid transport in living cells at single-species resolution. turns out non-vesicular, asymmetry-driven transport is the main architect of organelle identity. feels like the dawn of a golden era for lipid biology. rdcu.be/eBGJv
@felkohdigital.bsky.social wrote a beautiful popular science piece about how #AI is advancing the inference of molecular function from analysis of cellular form, i.e. image-based phenotyping. If you want to explain your #HCS project to a friend, this might help! #Microscopy tinyurl.com/4ne8vcaj
Imaging in the age of AI: form and function, computed at scale — Cancer Systems Microscopy Lab
From 17th-century microscopes to AI-powered imaging, discover how technology is transforming our ability to study cancer cell form and function at scale.
tinyurl.com
August 11, 2025 at 7:38 AM
@felkohdigital.bsky.social wrote a beautiful popular science piece about how #AI is advancing the inference of molecular function from analysis of cellular form, i.e. image-based phenotyping. If you want to explain your #HCS project to a friend, this might help! #Microscopy tinyurl.com/4ne8vcaj
Reposted by John Lock
Microscopy most especially. To be the first human to ever lay eyes on something. What a feeling.
Really just had something like this feeling this afternoon. It’s the high that keeps you coming back for more
August 8, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Microscopy most especially. To be the first human to ever lay eyes on something. What a feeling.
Reposted by John Lock
This is the result of a super fun collaboration with Andrew Gunawan from @locusj.bsky.social and Erik Meijering's groups at UNSW (there aren't many collaborators I'd brave a 9-11 hour time difference for, but these guys are great 🦘) and @micoxscopy.bsky.social a bit closer to home! (5/5)
August 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM
This is the result of a super fun collaboration with Andrew Gunawan from @locusj.bsky.social and Erik Meijering's groups at UNSW (there aren't many collaborators I'd brave a 9-11 hour time difference for, but these guys are great 🦘) and @micoxscopy.bsky.social a bit closer to home! (5/5)
Reposted by John Lock
For giggles, we also discovered that you can deliberately force images to be structurally wacky while still getting high scores on quality metrics (please don't try this at home) (4/5)
August 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM
For giggles, we also discovered that you can deliberately force images to be structurally wacky while still getting high scores on quality metrics (please don't try this at home) (4/5)
Reposted by John Lock
Most alarmingly, it turns out that sometimes these metrics tell you that your image has got better after image processing, even when your downstream biological analysis gets worse as a result ☹️ (3/5)
August 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Most alarmingly, it turns out that sometimes these metrics tell you that your image has got better after image processing, even when your downstream biological analysis gets worse as a result ☹️ (3/5)
Reposted by John Lock
We show that PSNR and SSIM fundamentally suck (technical scientific term there) for fluorescence microscopy in general. They also love processed images - even if those processed images don't look all that great. (2/5)
August 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM
We show that PSNR and SSIM fundamentally suck (technical scientific term there) for fluorescence microscopy in general. They also love processed images - even if those processed images don't look all that great. (2/5)
Reposted by John Lock
Hello! Very excited to share our latest preprint, which is great news for us but terrible news for any diehard fans of PSNR and SSIM as image quality metrics in microscopy... (1/5)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Image quality metrics fail to accurately represent biological information in fluorescence microscopy
Image processing methods offer the potential to improve the quality of fluorescence microscopy data, allowing for image acquisition at lower, less phototoxic illumination doses. The training and evalu...
www.biorxiv.org
August 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Hello! Very excited to share our latest preprint, which is great news for us but terrible news for any diehard fans of PSNR and SSIM as image quality metrics in microscopy... (1/5)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Yes, a wonderful collaboration! Fantastic vision from @superresolusian.bsky.social, Andrew Gunawan & @micoxscopy.bsky.social challenging IQM dogma re what a 'good' #FluorescenceMicroscopy image is. Important ideas for our field, always with good humour, regardless of the hour (or pet behaviour) :)
This is the result of a super fun collaboration with Andrew Gunawan from @locusj.bsky.social and Erik Meijering's groups at UNSW (there aren't many collaborators I'd brave a 9-11 hour time difference for, but these guys are great 🦘) and @micoxscopy.bsky.social a bit closer to home! (5/5)
August 8, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Yes, a wonderful collaboration! Fantastic vision from @superresolusian.bsky.social, Andrew Gunawan & @micoxscopy.bsky.social challenging IQM dogma re what a 'good' #FluorescenceMicroscopy image is. Important ideas for our field, always with good humour, regardless of the hour (or pet behaviour) :)
Our #Extensible_Immunofluorescence (ExIF) technique is a bit like #AI doing #origami. From some starting information (raw images = sheets of paper), AI can re-fold many alternatives (virtual images = alternate origami), capturing more #single-cell biology. Check out: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
July 31, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Our #Extensible_Immunofluorescence (ExIF) technique is a bit like #AI doing #origami. From some starting information (raw images = sheets of paper), AI can re-fold many alternatives (virtual images = alternate origami), capturing more #single-cell biology. Check out: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by John Lock
Amazing new collab with & led by @kriskilian.bsky.social showing brief capillary constriction drives cancer stem cell traits & tumorgenicity in a PIEZO (i.e. mechanosensitive) manner. Blood-borne CTCs get an 'aggressiveness boost' from squeezing through small vessels. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Capillary constrictions prime cancer cell tumorigenicity through PIEZO1
Metastasis is a hallmark of cancer and is responsible for the majority of cancer-related deaths. Evidence suggests that even a single cancer cell can spread and seed a secondary tumour. However, not a...
www.biorxiv.org
July 30, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Amazing new collab with & led by @kriskilian.bsky.social showing brief capillary constriction drives cancer stem cell traits & tumorgenicity in a PIEZO (i.e. mechanosensitive) manner. Blood-borne CTCs get an 'aggressiveness boost' from squeezing through small vessels. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Not just noise! Single-cell quantitative imaging reveals that epithelial-mesenchymal #EMT cell state pre-determines different magnitudes, kinetics & intracellular spatial routing of EGF-induced phospho-signalling. Great work @felkohdigital.bsky.social & collab team! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Epithelial–mesenchymal cell state heterogeneity predetermines differential phospho-signaling responses to EGF stimulation
Understanding why isogenic cancer cells respond differently to equivalent oncogenic stimuli is vital for optimizing anticancer therapies. Emerging evidence suggests that pre-existing differences in ce...
www.biorxiv.org
July 30, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Not just noise! Single-cell quantitative imaging reveals that epithelial-mesenchymal #EMT cell state pre-determines different magnitudes, kinetics & intracellular spatial routing of EGF-induced phospho-signalling. Great work @felkohdigital.bsky.social & collab team! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Amazing new collab with & led by @kriskilian.bsky.social showing brief capillary constriction drives cancer stem cell traits & tumorgenicity in a PIEZO (i.e. mechanosensitive) manner. Blood-borne CTCs get an 'aggressiveness boost' from squeezing through small vessels. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Capillary constrictions prime cancer cell tumorigenicity through PIEZO1
Metastasis is a hallmark of cancer and is responsible for the majority of cancer-related deaths. Evidence suggests that even a single cancer cell can spread and seed a secondary tumour. However, not a...
www.biorxiv.org
July 30, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Amazing new collab with & led by @kriskilian.bsky.social showing brief capillary constriction drives cancer stem cell traits & tumorgenicity in a PIEZO (i.e. mechanosensitive) manner. Blood-borne CTCs get an 'aggressiveness boost' from squeezing through small vessels. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by John Lock
Christine Chaffer, @skummerf.bsky.social at @garvaninstitute.bsky.social, Smita Krishnaswamy at Yale et al present AAnet a neural network for nonlinear archetype analysis that more accurately captures cell plasticity & learns the spatial organisation of the archetypes. What is the advance? 1/3
AAnet resolves a continuum of spatially-localized cell states to unveil intratumoral heterogeneity
Abstract. Identifying functionally important cell states and structure within heterogeneous tumors remains a significant biological and computational challenge. Current clustering or trajectory-based ...
aacrjournals.org
June 26, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Christine Chaffer, @skummerf.bsky.social at @garvaninstitute.bsky.social, Smita Krishnaswamy at Yale et al present AAnet a neural network for nonlinear archetype analysis that more accurately captures cell plasticity & learns the spatial organisation of the archetypes. What is the advance? 1/3
Reposted by John Lock
Now online in Cancer Discovery: AAnet Resolves a Continuum of Spatially-Localized Cell States to Unveil Intratumoral Heterogeneity - by Aarthi Venkat, Scott Youlten, Beatriz San Juan, Smita Krishnaswamy, Christine Chaffer, and colleagues doi.org/10.1158/2159...
June 24, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Now online in Cancer Discovery: AAnet Resolves a Continuum of Spatially-Localized Cell States to Unveil Intratumoral Heterogeneity - by Aarthi Venkat, Scott Youlten, Beatriz San Juan, Smita Krishnaswamy, Christine Chaffer, and colleagues doi.org/10.1158/2159...
The first, first-author story www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... from @felkohdigital.bsky.social & www.cancersystemsmicroscopylab.com exploring how the epithelial-mesenchymal (E/M) state landscape pre-determines EGF signalling responses. An analytical tour-de-force, with more to come on this theme!
July 15, 2025 at 10:20 AM
The first, first-author story www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... from @felkohdigital.bsky.social & www.cancersystemsmicroscopylab.com exploring how the epithelial-mesenchymal (E/M) state landscape pre-determines EGF signalling responses. An analytical tour-de-force, with more to come on this theme!
🔬 PostDoc Alert! Our liquid biopsy collaborators Cancer & Inflammation Lab seek talented PostDoc to develop personalized cancer diagnostics. Focus: DDR & immune biomarkers in prostate/lung/GI cancers. Be part of the #precision_medicine revolution! #PostDoc #CancerResearch
Apply@ tinyurl.com/yps8nwdf
Apply@ tinyurl.com/yps8nwdf
Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Medical Oncology Job in Liverpool, Sydney NSW - SEEK
Seeking a talented Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join the Cancer and Inflammation Research Group at the Ingham institute, Liverpool.
tinyurl.com
May 27, 2025 at 6:23 AM
🔬 PostDoc Alert! Our liquid biopsy collaborators Cancer & Inflammation Lab seek talented PostDoc to develop personalized cancer diagnostics. Focus: DDR & immune biomarkers in prostate/lung/GI cancers. Be part of the #precision_medicine revolution! #PostDoc #CancerResearch
Apply@ tinyurl.com/yps8nwdf
Apply@ tinyurl.com/yps8nwdf
Our #AI #research @natcomms.nature.com uses #multiomics data integration concepts to fuse 4-channel imaging data into unlimitedly multiplexed image datasets via generative deep learning to interrogate complex cell biology, like #EMT. Multiplexing made easy! rdcu.be/emtBc @singmolsci.bsky.social
Extensible Immunofluorescence (ExIF) accessibly generates high-plexity datasets by integrating standard 4-plex imaging data
Nature Communications - Gunawan et al. propose an Extensible Immunofluorescence (ExIF) strategy that integrates distinct 4-plex image panels from routine fluorescence microscopy into multiplexed...
rdcu.be
May 20, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Our #AI #research @natcomms.nature.com uses #multiomics data integration concepts to fuse 4-channel imaging data into unlimitedly multiplexed image datasets via generative deep learning to interrogate complex cell biology, like #EMT. Multiplexing made easy! rdcu.be/emtBc @singmolsci.bsky.social
I'm developing a new onboarding, orientation & support pack for postdocs & professional staff #UNSW School of Biomedical Sciences. What's the #1 thing you wish someone had told you when you arrived at your institution, to help you connect, contribute & launch your career?
September 9, 2024 at 7:09 AM
I'm developing a new onboarding, orientation & support pack for postdocs & professional staff #UNSW School of Biomedical Sciences. What's the #1 thing you wish someone had told you when you arrived at your institution, to help you connect, contribute & launch your career?