Outreach and teaching materials

The CellProfiler team has developed several educational resources to introduce people to the joy of answering important biomedical research questions using software. Biological image analysis is interdisciplinary - it concretely demonstrates mathematics and computer science to students in the context of high-impact biomedical research.

In-person workshops

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BLOSSOMS video/activity lesson

BLOSSOMS (Blended Learning Science or Math Studies) is a large, free repository of video modules for high school math and science classes created by "star" teachers from around the world. Each video is designed for viewing in brief segments, allowing the in-class teacher between segments to engage the class in an active, goal-oriented exercise. The goal is not just to learn about an exciting area of science but also to develop deeper and richer thinking skills.

Video lesson: Discovering Medicines, Using Robots and Computers

Robots vs Disease activity lesson

This activity teaches students about a new technology used to identify genes involved in human disease. The activity uses a specific example of how to discover genes that promote metastasis, which is the process of cancer cells spreading throughout the body from the site of the original tumor. This activity teaches students how new software works that "looks" at images and learns from the biologist what types of cells to look for. This hands-on activity models how the computer learns to recognize cells of interest, and stars the students as “the computer."

Activity description: Robots vs Disease: Modeling Biomedical Research in your Classroom (.doc)

Materials: Pictures of Cells (.pdf)

Presentation Slides (in 3 different formats): (PDF) (PowerPoint.zip) (Keynote.zip)