Heather Holahan’s Story

I began Expert Cytometry as a postdoc in the US after my medical and PhD training in Germany and the UK. I had used flow cytometry for more than 5 years but needed to take a ‘deep dive’ to really understand the technique. I soon became the expert in my lab and helped my peers design their experiments. It was also the impetus for me to apply (and receive) the Mary Lou Ingram Scholarship, and start the MiSET RFC standard while I continue my career in cytometry.

I invited ExCyte to Lilly Pharmaceuticals to teach a two-day comprehensive course; ranging from the fundamentals of flow to the experimental design of assays specific to what I think a lot of biotech companies are doing these days. Afterward, several of our scientists wondered why I didn’t bring in a course like this earlier! Our instructor, Tim Bushnell, Ph.D., educated my users with the background they needed to design their assays most effectively. I immediately noticed the positive impact he had when my users began to ask more informed questions during the planning stages of their experiments. As a busy core manager, it’s difficult to find the time to prepare such a well-designed course like ExCyte offers while trying to stay focused on innovation and maintaining a competitive advantage in the fast-paced industry environment. I’m grateful to the ExCyte team for helping me to keep things moving forward at Lilly.

I’m a postdoctoral researcher and know a lot about flow but I needed to learn a few new techniques and execute them before I could get my paper published. I joined Expert Cytometry because they have a good reputation for teaching high-level flow cytometry information very well. I really enjoyed the personal guidance the Cheeky Scientist Technical Program offered and was impressed by how much I learned about controls and compensation, experimental design, statistics, and even apoptosis. Cheeky Scientist's ExCyte is perhaps the only class that teaches you from scratch how to be a flow cytometry expert.

As a Core Manager, my position requires staying up to date with the latest best practices. The Cheeky Scientist Technical Programs provided the necessary information on flow cytometry to stay on the cutting edge of the field for a reasonable investment. Overall, the course was really well done by speakers expert on the field and I really appreciated the flexibility of listening to the webinars as needed. The Cheeky Scientist Technical Program is wonderful and I would recommend it to beginner as well as advanced flow cytometry professionals.