Delivering Custom Solutions for Your Spatial Biology Needs

A scientist helping scientists unlock spatial biology in their labs.


Specializing in biological image analysis (murine or human) and spatial transcriptomics.

Spatial biology was named Nature Method's 2020 method of the year, yet for many scientists the fruit of these advances has remained unattainable. Our passion is to facilitate the application of these techniques to your question based on our years of experience in spatial biology techniques. We work closely with clients to strengthen hypotheses and experimental design, even working hands-on with data to produce reliable results to answer your research question.




 

                                                        Services

01 Planning & Consultation

Biological image analysis and spatial biology are

complex.  We will meet to discuss your project and aims, consider different modalities, and illuminate the path to achieve your goals. We have successfully designed, implemented, analyzed and published spatial biology in top-tier journals.

02 Design

 Next, we will work out the specifics of your imaging strategy. We work to ensure that your goals are feasible and that your results will be rigorous. This step includes recommendations on sample size, timeline, technical execution, image analysis software, journal expectations, and statistical analysis.

 

03 Analysis & Results

We offer different levels of data analysis. 

A. In-person visit to your site for intensive instruction and analysis.

B. Remote data analysis. Upload your digital image files securely. We conduct the analysis, delivering expedited results using powerful statistical and graphical software.   

 

About Llusern Spatial

  • 1. About our founder

    Dr. MacFawn is a cancer cell biologist specializing in tumor immunology and molecular biology. He conducted his postdoc at an NIH Comprehensive Cancer Center, focusing on translational solutions in ovarian cancer. He has optimized and built analysis pipelines for multiple novel multispectral immunofluorscence panels targeting immune cells, stroma and beyond. He has extensive experience in spatial transcriptomics and has been invited to present his spatial strategies at workshops and national conferences such as: 


    • The Spatial Biology Symposium: Translational Research Cancer Center Consortium (2024)
    • Nanostring Technology Day: UPMC Hillman Cancer Center (2024)
    • Keystone Symposium: B Cells and Tertiary Lymphoid Structures (2023)

    Education & Training


    • The College of William & Mary: Bachelor of Science
    • West Virginia University: PhD in Cancer Cell Biology
    • University of Pittsburgh, Dept. of Immunology: Postdoctoral Scholar
    • UPMC Hillman Cancer Center: Tumor Microenvironment Center

  • 2. What we do for you

    This company's mission is to provide an accessible, economic and educational solutions to your questions in spatial biology, removing the heavy-lifting on your end.

  • 3. Specializations and Expertise

    Single-plex immunohistochemistry

    Multi-plex immunofluorescence

    Spectral unmixing

    Multiplex image analysis software

    Machine learning algorithms

    Cell segmentation

    Tissue segmentation

    Phenotypic quantification

    Intensity scoring

    Spatial proximity analysis

    Spatial Transcriptomics

    Imaging statistics

    Data graphing and visualization

  • 4. Selected Publications

    • MacFawn IP, et al. The activity of tertiary lymphoid structures in high grade serous ovarian cancer is governed by site, stroma, and cellular interactions, Cancer Cell, 2024, ISSN 1535-6108, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2024.09.007.
    • MacFawn IP, Bruno, TC (2024). Tertiary Lymphoid Structure Formation and Function in the Tumor Microenvironment. In: Rezaei, N. (eds) Handbook of Cancer and Immunology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80962-1_83-1
    • Daley JD, Mukherjee E, Tufino AC, Bailey N, Bhaskar S, Periyapatna N, MacFawn IP, Kunning S, Hinck C, Bruno T, Olson AC, McAllister-Lucas LM, Hinck AP, Cooper K, Bao R, Cillo AR, Bailey KM. Immunocompetent murine model of Ewing sarcoma reveals role for TGFβ inhibition to enhance immune infiltrates in Ewing tumors during radiation. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 May 10:2024.05.07.592974. doi: 10.1101/2024.05.07.592974. PMID: 38766091; PMCID: PMC11100684.
    • Garcia GL, Orellana T, Gorecki G, Frisbie LG, Baruwal R, Goldfield E, Beddows I, MacFawn IP, Britt AK, Hale MM, Shen H, Buckanovich R, Finkel T, Drapkin R, Soong TR, Bruno TC, Atiya HI, Coffman L. Stromal mediated DNA damage promotes high grade serous ovarian cancer initiation. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 May 28:2024.05.23.595550. doi: 10.1101/2024.05.23.595550. PMID: 38853994; PMCID: PMC11160569.
    • Vito A, Salem O, El-Sayes N, MacFawn IP, Portillo AL, Milne K, Harrington D, Ashkar AA, Wan Y, Workenhe ST, Nelson BH, Bruno TC, Mossman KL. Immune checkpoint blockade in triple negative breast cancer influenced by B cells through myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Commun Biol. 2021 Jul 12;4(1):859. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02375-9. PMID: 34253827; PMCID: PMC8275624.
    • MacFawn IP, Wilson H, Selth LA, Leighton I, Serebriiskii I, Bleackley RC, Elzamzamy O, Farris J, Pifer PM, Richer J, Frisch SM. Grainyhead-like-2 confers NK-sensitivity through interactions with epigenetic modifiers. Mol Immunol. 2019 Jan;105:137-149. doi: 10.1016/j.molimm.2018.11.006. Epub 2018 Nov 30. PMID: 30508726; PMCID: PMC6585439.
    • Karapetyan L, AbuShukair HM, Li A, Knight A, Al Bzour AN, MacFawn IP, Thompson ZJ, Chen A, Yang X, Dadey R, Karunamurthy A, De Stefano DV, Sander C, Kunning SR, Najjar YG, Davar D, Luke JJ, Gooding W, Bruno TC, Kirkwood JM, Storkus WJ. Expression of lymphoid structure-associated cytokine/chemokine gene transcripts in tumor and protein in serum are prognostic of melanoma patient outcomes. Front Immunol. 2023 Jun 22;14:1171978. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1171978. PMID: 37435077; PMCID: PMC10332263.
    • MacFawn IP, Farris J, Pifer P, Margaryan NV, Akhter H, Wang L, Dziadowicz S, Denvir J, Hu G, Frisch SM. Grainyhead-like-2, an epithelial master programmer, promotes interferon induction and suppresses breast cancer recurrence. Mol Immunol. 2024 Jun;170:156-169. doi: 10.1016/j.molimm.2024.04.012. Epub 2024 Apr 30. PMID: 38692097; PMCID: PMC11106721.

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