July 18, 2025 – The Structural Biology Core of the Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer (CMIC, Award P20 GM152281) headed by Dr. Eric Enemark and Dr. Rahul Jaiswal hosted a day-long training session in the use of the Cryo-SPARCS software package for analyzing and refining cryo-EM data. In conjunction with the Arkansas INBRE high speed computing center, investigators and students from across UAMS were provided with a hands-on introduction to refining real-world cryo-EM data.
Attendees brought laptops to the training and connected to the UAMS/INBRE data center servers hosting a cryo-EM dataset collected at the Pacific Northwest Cryo-EM Center (PNCC) as part of a CMIC project. Drs. Enemark and Jaiswal guided everyone through the steps of curating and refining cryo-EM images and data, while providing tips and tricks for good data practices. The workshop was designed to benefit all attendees a diverse range of cryo-EM skill levels and backgrounds. Novice attendees gained insight in the start-to-finish process of cryo-EM structure determination, potentially sparking an interest to use cryo-EM in their own research projects and to collaborate with the CMIC Structural Biology core. Seasoned attendees gained practical experience in using the same cryo-EM software that will be employed with the Glacios cryo-EM instrument at UAMS.
