Getting Started with Single Particle Cryo-EM: How to Access the NIH National Centers

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is transforming structural biology. While many institutions are building their own cryo-EM facilities, the NIH National Cryo-EM Centers provide an unparalleled entry point for researchers looking to begin or expand their cryo-EM capabilities. By providing access to state-of-the-art microscopes, expert staff scientists, and proven workflows, these centers help researchers rapidly generate high-quality data. For many labs, they also provide a critical opportunity to produce preliminary data, strengthen grant proposals, and build momentum toward establishing long-term cryo-EM programs at their institutions.

In this webinar, we will walk through how structural and cell biologists can access these national resources and successfully launch single particle cryo-EM projects. You’ll learn how the NIH National Cryo-EM Centers operate, the types of projects they support, and the practical steps for submitting a successful proposal. We will also discuss what to expect during the process—from sample preparation and data collection to working with expert staff and advancing toward high-resolution structures.

Whether you are curious about cryo-EM, planning your first project, or looking for ways to expand your structural biology toolkit, this session will provide clear guidance on how to leverage these powerful national resources.

In this webinar, you'll learn:

• How the NIH National Cryo-EM Centers provide access to advanced instrumentation for single particle analysis
• Who is eligible and what types of projects are supported
• How to apply and prepare a competitive proposal
• What the user experience looks like, from sample to structure
• Register now to learn how to access the NIH National Cryo-EM Centers and take the next step toward launching your cryo-EM project.

Presenter: Ed Eng, PhD (Senior Scientists and Manager, New York Structural Biology Center)

Ed is the manager of the National Center for CryoEM Access and Training (NCCAT), a NIH cryo-EM service center. He focuses on the application of electron microscopy (EM) to biomedical research by providing expertise and resources for understanding both molecular and cellular structures. Ed has extensive experience designing, renovating, operating, and managing cryo-EM facilities. He engages with scientists in an open and collaborative forum to advance biomedical research. One of his missions is to lower the barriers of access to cryo-EM technology and cross-train researchers to have an accelerated impact at their home institutions.

Presenter: Wah Chui, PhD (Director, Stanford-SLAC Cryo-EM Center Wallenberg-Bienenstock Professor Stanford University)

Wah is a pioneer in methodology development for cryo-EM. His work has made multiple transformational contributions in developing single particle cryo-EM as a tool for structural determination of molecular machines at atomic resolution. His lab has solved many cryo-EM structures, including viruses, chaperonins, membrane proteins, ion channels, antigen–antibody complexes, protein–RNA complexes, and RNA, in collaboration with many scientists around the world. He continues to establish high-standard testing and characterization protocols for cryo-EM instrumentation and develop new image processing and modeling algorithms for cryo-EM structure determination.

Presenter: Claudia Lopez, PhD (Co-Investigator and Center Director
Pacific Northwest Cryo-EM Center)

Claudia has extensive experience with electron microscopy research, including transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, dual-beam applications, and serial block face imaging. Her formal training is in biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology and she has worked in the biochemistry-biophysics and microbiology fields for the past 22 years. Her expertise includes the analysis of both biological (cells, viruses, bacteria, particles, and tissues) and non-biological materials (hard materials and fabrics) by TEM, SEM and FIB-SEM and she has routinely performed sample preparation (conventional and cryo-processing), electron microscopy imaging, and image analysis.

Presenter: Shivani Ahuja, PhD (Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Reed College)

Shivani Ahuja is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Reed College and a structural biochemist studying how bacterial proteins regulate manganese and zinc transport. Her lab uses biochemical and biophysical techniques, including cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography, to investigate metal homeostasis, cellular survival, and virulence.