Flow Stars

Today, our host Peter O’Toole sits down with Charlotte Christie Petersen, Désirée Kunkel, and Marjolijn Hameetman.
Together, they share the story behind the European Flow Core Meeting: a virtual event created to bring flow cytometry core facility staff together across countries, career stages, and facility sizes.
They reflect on why the meeting matters, from helping people share hard-won experience to giving core facility staff a stronger sense of community and recognition.
Along the way, they also share a few more personal stories: unexpected hobbies, cytometer mishaps, and how flow cytometry shaped not just a career, but a life.
Watch or listen to all episodes of Flow Stars: flowstars.bitesizebio.com

In this episode, Peter is joined by Joanne and Ray Lannigan, two much-loved figures in the flow cytometry community.
Joanne and Ray share how they found their way into flow from very different beginnings, from Joanne’s early dream of becoming a doctor to Ray’s route through electronics, the Navy, and field service engineering.
They also reflect on the risks, setbacks, and turning points that shaped their careers, including a difficult move to Maryland, financial uncertainty, and the opportunities that eventually led to UVA and Cytek.
Along the way, they discuss mentorship, community, life after retirement, working across time zones, conference adventures, family, food, music, and their ongoing work with ISAC’s Instruments for Science initiative.
Watch or listen to all episodes of Flow Stars: flowstars.bitesizebio.com

In this episode, Peter sits down with Ulf Landegren, Professor of Molecular Medicine at Uppsala University and a pioneer in DNA-based detection technologies.
Ulf shares the story behind one of his lab’s most important breakthroughs, rolling circle amplification, and how it almost didn’t happen when a student pushed ahead despite his doubts.
He also explores how this technology has evolved into powerful methods for detecting cancer mutations with extraordinary sensitivity, offering new ways to monitor disease and patient outcomes, particularly in leukemia.
Along the way, Ulf reflects on the human side of science—from the role of curiosity and persistence in discovery to lively (and very vocal) scientific debates with his son on family bike rides.
Watch or listen to all episodes of Flow Stars: flowstars.bitesizebio.com

In this episode, Peter O'Toole is joined by Virginia Litwin, the President-Elect of the International Society For Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC).
They discuss Virginia's journey from academia to industry and her pivotal role in the creation and development of CYTO Women, a committee that's having a genuine positive impact on the opportunities available for women in cytometry.
She also shares her experiences in translational science, working closely with clinical trials, and her passion for standardization in flow cytometry.
Watch or listen to all episodes of Flow Stars: flowstars.bitesizebio.com

In this episode of Flow Stars, we're joined by Anis Larbi, Medical & Scientific Affairs, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. 
Anis chats about his experience working at the prestigious A*STAR in Singapore, where he led a dual career as both a principal investigator and the head of a core flow cytometry facility.
He also shares his advocacy of networking, explains this inspired him to make the leap from academia to industry and discusses some of the snobbery some academics have about this transition.
Watch or listen to all episodes of Flow Stars: flowstars.bitesizebio.com