The Origins of UruMex Microscopia

Project 2019 - 2022

The first UruMex Microscopía project, also financed by the Mexico-Uruguay Bilateral Cooperation Fund, brought together the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the University of the Republic (Udelar), and the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo in an ambitious project to strengthen links  between the bioimaging communities in each country. At the time, despite the presence of world-class scientists and facilities across the region, Latin American bioimaging efforts were largely fragmented. We sought to bridge geographic boundaries and overcome this isolation by strengthening institutional ties between leading nodes in Mexico and Uruguay, and set a foundation for building a wider Latin American network.

The project was divided into three main activities:

• Reciprocal exchanges and researchers, technicians and students between Mexico and Uruguay for skills training and exchange of experience and knowledge

• Multiple rounds of thematic joint-workshops in each country, aimed at bioimaging professionals, non-academic sectors and public outreach.

• A culminative international congress to bring together regional and international stakeholders for the launch of Latin America Bioimaging

May 2019: Fact finding visit to Montevideo

The project kicked off with a fact-finding trip by LNMA Director Chris Wood to Montevideo to visit the existing bioimaging installations and meet the key stakeholders at research institutions and science funding bodies. A result of this visit was the creation of an advisory report that supported the establishment of the Unidad de Bioimagenología Avanzada in the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo.

2020 - 2021 The Origins of LABI

Our carefully laid out plans or workshops and events were swept from the table by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, we brought forward our plans to found a wider community network, inviting representatives from bioimaging communities in Latin American countries to present the state-of-their-art and to take the first steps to creating Latin America Bioimaging. Follow up seminars included presentations from global partner networks, and participation in external events.

2022 Activities in Montevideo

With the pandemic waning, our event plans could finally be realised. First on the list was series of events in Montevideo, for which experts from the LNMA participated in a workshop on superresolution microscopy, a hands-on training workshop with schoolteachers, and a primary school outreach event. 

2022 Activities in Mexico

There was barely time to pause for breath before the reciprocal activities began in Mexico. Experts from the UBA shared their knowledge of hyperspectral imaging at a dedicated workshop in Cuernavaca, followed by an workshop for clinical researchers in Mexico City, and finally a series of educational and outreach activities in Ensenada. 

Latin America Bioimaging's First Annual Meeting

The UruMex Microscopía project 2019 - 2022 finished with it's biggest triumph - an international congress held at the Hospital de Clínicas in Montevideo, held in conjunction with Global Bioimaging's annual Exchange of Experience and the Imaging Latin America event, which brought together bioimaging community representatives from across Latin America and the globe for the first time. A triumphal and auspicious offical launch for Latin America Bioimaging, one that has seen LABI and the community grow and strengthen deeply in the following years.

And finally...

All of this progress was made thanks to the support of the Mexico-Uruguay Bilateral Cooperation Fund, the Uruguayan Agency for International Cooperation (AUCI), and the Mexican Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AMEXCID), which is why we were especially honoured to be selected as one of the projects highlighted at the 15th anniversary meeting for the Bilateral fund, held in Panama City in April 2024. We look forward to continuing our contributions to bilateral and international cooperation with our current project.