Skip to content

What are you doing at ISAS, Leon?

Dortmund, 26th February 2025

Leon hält Marshmallows, Schokolade und die Hardware für sein Projekt zur Bilderkennung.
© ISAS

Leon is joining the researchers in the AMBIOM research group for two weeks. In his internship, he is working on automated image recognition.

Leon (15) is in the ninth grade at a grammar school in Bochum – but he is currently spending two weeks accompanying researchers at ISAS. In the AMBIOM – Analysis of Microscopic BIOMedical Images research group, Leon has been able to work on his first own projects during his school internship. To get an insight into his internship, the editorial team asked Leon to complete the following sentences.

  • In the AMBIOM research group…

    I am still a newcomer because I have little previous experience. Nevertheless, I already have my own projects, such as an AI application that can recognise objects. I used a software to train a new AI model to recognise whether there is a marshmallow or a piece of chocolate in front of the webcam. Image classification with AI is used in biomedical research, for example to analyse cells. For my second project, I am applying AI to create my own website to share my experiences and thoughts about the internship. To do this, I watched tutorial videos and used AI to write the code for the website.

  • So far, I have learnt…

    a lot about bioinformatics and AI. I have been in the lab to look at the knee joints of mice under a microscope. Furthermore, I have learnt about the construction of a 3D printer. I also looked closely at how to create a 3D model of microscope mounts and how to print it in the end. Right now, I am developing a model of a tower on my own. The plan is to print it later and take it home as a souvenir.

  • I particularly like...

    the diversity here. Every person in the AMBIOM team has a different job and every week the researchers discuss the projects with each other.

  • From the internship I will take home…

    that the work as a scientist can be very diverse. I used to think that researchers were in the lab all day doing the same thing. But it is not like that at all, there are many different tasks. I am glad that I have already been able to gain so much experience here. Maybe I will have the opportunity to come back for another internship.

(Protocol: Anna Becker)

Share

Further articles

3 Questions for Neele Rottmann

In the lab, Neele Rottmann prepares human and animal samples for mass spectrometry analysis. As part of the HI-FIVE project, she is helping to identify changes at the protein level in heart failure. Why does she spend so much time in the lab working on separations? The technical assistant shares the answer in this interview.

Neele Rottmann is wearing a white lab coat and purple gloves and is operating a mass spectrometry analyser in a laboratory. Next to her is a liquid chromatography system connected to a mass spectrometer via several tubes. There are numerous sample vials on the instrument. As she places a sample into the system, she looks into the camera.

High-tech against Cardiovascular Diseases: 3D Images of Blood Vessels

How do atherosclerotic plaques form in the coronary arteries? At ISAS, researchers are investigating cellular changes in human coronary arteries using techniques such as 3D imaging. During her internship, early-career researcher Leonie Menzel used a light sheet fluorescence microscope to analyse the spatial distribution of individual cells within the tissue. She thereby gained valuable methodological experience for her Master’s thesis.

3 Questions for Lukas Fu

How can AI support the analysis of biomedical images? This was the question Lukas Fu explored during his school internship at ISAS. The 15-year-old also successfully completed his first programming project.

Lukas Fu, a 15-year-old with short black hair. He is wearing glasses and is sitting on a low wall.

Separating Fluorescence Signals Faster and More Precisely with AI

When different fluorescence signals overlap during microscopy, their clear assignment to specific biological structures becomes difficult. To address this common problem, Dr Davide Panzeri is developing AI-based signal separation methods. The biophysicist has been awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship by the European Union for his promising research project.

Porträt Dr. Davide Panzeri.

Passionate Research, Shaping the Future

How do GRK5 inhibitors work at the cellular level and within the living organism? Biologist Dr Susanne Grund is working with her colleagues at HI-FIVE on a new therapeutic approach for heart failure. In this portrait, she describes what her day-to-day work looks like, balancing research on human stem cells with studies on mice.

ISAS BFF Uploader

What are you doing at ISAS, Theresa?

Why do mice undergo ultrasound examinations of their hearts? What does a typical working day in the lab involve for a technical assistant in the HI-FIVE research project ? And what challenges does the job present? Theresa Pietz provides fascinating insights into her duties, motivations and experiences working with animals.

Study with Heart: A Doctor Bridging Clinic & Laboratory

What is actually happening behind the scenes of a patient trial? Anna Ruzhyna is a clinical research associate who looks after participants with heart failure as part of the HI-FIVE project. She explains how her work helps to develop new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of heart failure.

Laboratory Meets Clinic: Understanding Heart Function with Stem Cells

How can new therapeutic approaches for heart failure be developed more effectively? Stem cell research plays a central role in the HI-FIVE project. In this interview, PD Dr Anna Klinke (Herz- und Diabeteszentrum NRW) talks about her work between the lab and the clinic. She explains how the versatility of stem cells enables heart and vascular cells to be obtained from individual patients' blood and why this is an important step in investigating the specific effects of new active substances.
Return
To the top