Judith Drazba, PhD

For the past 28 years I have used imaging and flow cytometric techniques both in my own work and in collaboration on a wide variety of projects to help answer important research questions. As a post-doctoral fellow for five years in the Neuroscience laboratory of Dr. Thomas S. Reese at NINDS/NIH I was principally responsible for operation and maintenance of the confocal microscope and was responsible for confocal training of new users in the laboratory. I used confocal microscopy extensively in my own research to characterize the role of neural cell adhesion molecules in axon pathfinding. I was one of the first to utilize confocal Interference Reflection Microscopy to study living neuronal axons, and my data were published on the cover of Brain Research. While in the lab I learned a variety of cutting edge flow cytometry and EM techniques and I also assisted with confocal and electron microscopy as well as Flow in the Woods Hole Neurobiology Course each year. Since 1994 I have been the Director of the Lerner Research Institute Imaging Core at the Cleveland Clinic where I have been responsible for the operation and maintenance of a wide variety of imaging and cytometry systems from light microscopy and EM to FACS and small animal imaging. Together with the Core staff, I have helped numerous investigators in the collection, post-processing and analysis of data from these systems. I have organized and taught a Confocal Imaging Short Course for the Microscopy Society of America (2007). I have done consultation for confocal microscope manufacturers and have taught confocal microscopy at the SmithKline Beecham pharmaceutical company. I continue to teach in national courses and lecture on the purchase and use of microscopes for the Microscopy Society of America. I have done segments on confocal microscopy for Engineering TV and am currently the microscopist on the Engineering Panel for the Light Microscopy Module of the International Space Station (2002-present). I received the 2009 and 2014 Award for Excellence by the leadership and my peers of the Lerner Research Institute. My expertise and experience make me particularly well suited to assist Dr. Jacobberger with the oversight of the new flow cytometer.