The barriers
Challenges in bioimaging
Biological processes are dynamic, complex, and highly variable from cell to cell. To truly understand them, we need technology that can look at thousands of cells at high speed, while still showing tiny details — yet current technologies force a trade-off between the two.
Our solution
Funded by a Wellcome Trust Bioimaging Technology Development Award, we are building an AI-driven, fully automated imaging platform that brings together:
An AI-driven fluorescence microscope that can autonomously capture thousands of cells in 3D, in multiple colours and over time (5D)
Integrated robotics to culture, feed and manipulate the cells before and during imaging
Innovative Deep Learning solutions to build generative models of complex, dynamic cellular processes (“Virtual Cells”) learnt from the obtained large 5D datasets
An innovative discovery pipeline
From data to “Virtual Cells”
Our integrated pipeline goes beyond imaging: it creates dynamic, probabilistic models of cell behaviours (“Virtual Cells”) that can be interrogated to answer specific biological questions. These models will let us ask new questions, test ideas, and explore biological processes in ways that weren’t possible before.
What research will it catalyse?
Our platform will empower researchers to:
Explore complex cellular dynamics at unprecedented scale
Develop new strategies for drug discovery
Advance knowledge of different cellular processes
Apply AI to uncover hidden patterns across massive imaging datasets
Latest news
Our first Community Event
On 12 June 2025, we opened our doors to the bioimaging community for our very[…]
Our team
We are an interdisciplinary team of biologists, computer scientists and engineers with a shared passion for bridging the gaps between disciplines to deliver transformative science
Davide Calebiro
PI
Professor of Molecular Endocrinology
and Co-Director of the Centre of Membrane Proteins and Receptors (COMPARE) at the University of Birmingham
Ales Leonardis
CO-I
Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham
Hector Basevi
co-i
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at
the University of Birmingham
with expertise in biomedical imaging and
image/scene interpretation
Edalat Radfar
co-i
Advanced Imaging Specialist at
the COMPARE Advanced
Imaging Facility at the University of Birmingham
Jiahao Zheng
Postdoctoral Bioimaging Developer
Research Fellow at the University
of Birmingham
Silvia Ghislanzoni
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
at the University of Birmingham with a background in chemistry and biology