
Indica Labs’ London HALO® User Group Meeting
Date: 10 December 2024
Time: 12:00 – 16:00
Location: Hilton London Metropole
Learn how Indica Labs’ customers employ HALO products for life science, clinical, and diagnostic use cases
Summary
Indica Labs is pleased to announce our London HALO® User Group Meeting at Hilton London Metropole on December 10 from 12:00 – 16:00. A lunch will be provided to all pre-registered attendees and a drinks reception will follow the event from 16:00 – 17:00.
Our program this year features three distinguished guest speakers who will discuss how they use AI-based phenotypers in HALO AI to advance breast cancer research, how HALO AP® is being deployed at Med Uni Graz for primary diagnostics, and how Breast IHC AI is advancing diagnostics at the University Hospital Bern. In addition to our guest speakers, Indica Labs will present an introduction and live demonstration of our image analysis and image management platforms for life sciences, introduce our offering in clinical AI and Cloud Services, and reflect on milestones and innovations enabled by HALO AP®.
We welcome anyone who is interested in learning more about Indica Labs’ quantitative digital pathology solutions to register for the meeting. You do not need to be a current Indica Labs customer to attend.
Presenters

Dr. Katherine Sheehan
Agenda
Time | Topic | Presenters | |
---|---|---|---|
11:00 – 12:00 | Check-in/Lunch | ||
12:00 – 12:10 | Welcome Address | Chief Scientific Officer Indica Labs | |
12:10 – 12:45 | HALO and HALO AI: AI-Powered Image Analysis | Field Applications Scientist Indica Labs
Abstract Join us for a live demonstration of the intuitive HALO image analysis platform and HALO AI deep learning toolset. This session will highlight HALO's powerful analytic capabilities as well as its flexibility and scalability supporting diverse areas of research. Topics include the pretrained AI-based nuclear and membrane segmentation networks available in HALO 4.0, which play a game-changing role compared to traditional tools. We will also introduce the latest networks released this year for HALO AI. These pretrained AI-based networks can be re-trained by the user to better fulfil the specific needs of a project and the trainable AI tissue classifiers can be used to segment the different compartments of each tissue. Learn how to train the different networks using the new Training Sessions feature and how to utilize the new Classifier Pipeline feature to accomplish routine detection workflows with efficiently trained classifiers having a limited number of classes. | |
12:45 – 13:00 | HALO Link: Promoting Discovery Through Collaboration | Field Applications Scientist Indica Labs Abstract In this presentation we will focus on HALO Link, our image management platform for the life sciences, which facilitates collaboration, study management, image and metadata integration, and visualization of data. We will cover common workflows in HALO Link, and will discuss how different users, with various permission levels, can access images and will demonstrate tasks that can be accomplished using the browser-based platform. Discover the powerful plotting functionalities available to visualize data across a study, including heatmaps, scatter plots, violin plots, and box and whisker plots. Additionally, learn about the new tools in version 4.0 supporting auditing and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP). | |
13:00 - 13:20 | Coffee Break | ||
13:20 – 13:50 | Digital Analysis of Metastatic Breast Cancer Using Cellular Phenotyping and Spatial Transcriptomics | Dr. Katherine Sheehan Consultant Pathologist, Pathology Laboratory, Blackrock Health, Dublin; Senior Lecturer & Consultant Pathologist, Depts of Pathology & Surgery Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Abstract In this presentation, we will show the use of HALO software in the differentiation of metastatic breast carcinoma from surrounding neural tissue types in the brain. Our study uses several components of the HALO AI platform, including tissue classification, object phenotyping and spatial analysis modules. In addition, the cellular localization and subclassification on routine H&E sections will be compared with spatial transcriptomics data that have been deployed on the same tissues. | |
13:50 – 14:10 | HALO AP Five Years On: Milestones, Innovations, and the Future of AP Labs | VP, Clinical Applications Indica Labs Abstract Since its launch in late 2019, HALO AP® has transformed AP labs of varying scales and specializations. In this session, we will reflect on the key drivers behind our development over the past five years, highlighting our first-in-market tools that have set industry standards and enhanced client workflows. We will also explore what's next for HALO AP®, discussing the evolving needs of the industry and how we plan to continue leading the way in innovation and efficiency. | |
14:10 – 14:25 | HALO Clinical AI Solutions: From Research and Development to the Clinic | Sr. Principal Scientist, AI Diagnostics Indica Labs
Abstract This session will introduce Indica Labs’ current HALO Clinical AI solutions. We will describe how the AI Diagnostics team utilizes Indica Labs software to collaborate with external industrial, clinical, and academic partners during the research, development, validation, and deployment of our clinical AI products. | |
14:25 - 14:45 | Coffee break | ||
14:45 – 15:15 | Implementing Digital Pathology: The Step from Research to Diagnostics | Researcher, Technical Lead Digital Pathology and Computational Pathology Medical University of Graz
Abstract The Institute of Pathology at the Medical University of Graz is currently in the process of transitioning its diagnostics to digital pathology. Over the past few years, approximately half a million slides from the biobank have been digitized. This presentation will focus on how digitization can be transferred from research and teaching into routine diagnostics and how these areas can benefit from each other. | |
15:15 – 15:25 | Optimizing Digital Pathology Infrastructure Through Cloud Services | Director of Cloud Services Indica Labs Abstract This presentation will delve into how the Indica Labs Cloud Services team can elevate your HALO infrastructure through customized cloud solutions. Our expert engineers, proficient in both cloud technology and digital pathology, provide optimized deployments and exceptional support. Discover how our tailored approach ensures robust, scalable, and efficient operations for your digital pathology needs. | |
15:25 – 15:55 | Deploying Indica Labs Software at the University of Bern and Its Use for Clinical Reporting and Research Projects | Head of Gynecological Pathology University Hospital Bern Abstract At the University of Bern, the slogan “Tissue Medicine is the New Pathology” describes our vision of conducting holistic digital pathology-driven patient-oriented diagnostics and research. In this talk, I will briefly discuss our current reporting of breast cancer immunohistochemistry, the plans at Bern to integrate and deploy both HALO AP and Breast IHC AI into our clinical workflow, and the predicted efficiency gains we aim to achieve by doing so. I will also describe how Indica Labs’ clinical software can be utilized to undertake research projects and train medical students at the University of Bern; focusing on a recent study comparing undergraduate breast cancer IHC scoring to that of trained pathologists, when assisted by Breast IHC AI. | |
15:55 – 16:00 | Closing Remarks | Chief Scientific Officer Indica Labs | |
16:00 – 17:00 | Drinks Reception | ||
Speaker Biographies Dr. Peter Caie Peter Caie worked for 9 years as a Senior Scientist at AstraZeneca before completing his PhD from the University of Edinburgh in Cancer Pathology. He went on to run the Quantitative and Digital Pathology (QUAD) Lab at the University of St Andrews where his research focused on artificial intelligence, cancer prognosis, and diagnosis in the field of digital and molecular pathology. Currently, Dr Caie is a Senior Principal Scientist at Indica Labs where he manages the AI Diagnostics group who develop commercial AI products designed for deployment in both the clinical and life science fields. Pedro Espinosa Gonzalez Pedro has a background in Histology, he has worked in several core facilities, in diagnostics units and research. During this time, he specialized in cardiovascular, neurological and oncological histology and developed an interest in image acquisition and image analysis giving him the opportunity to try different methods, from WSI and confocal to super-resolution imaging and analysis. Pedro joined Indica Labs in 2022 as Field Applications Scientist where he provides applications support for HALO®, HALO AI and HALO Link. Billy Heseltine Billy is responsible for Indica Labs Cloud Services, specializing in deployment and management of cloud environments optimized for Digital Pathology. Billy holds both AWS Certified Solutions Architect and HashiCorp Terraform certifications and has over 10 years industry experience within IT. Billy joined Indica Labs as a Technical Solutions Engineer in 2018, was promoted to Technical Solutions Manager, EMEA in 2021, and moved into Technical Product Management in 2022 before his most recent promotion to Director of Cloud Services. Dr. Kate Lillard Kate Lillard received her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, followed by a Howard Hughes postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. While conducting research in the area of stem cell biology and oncology as a graduate and postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Lillard developed a keen interest in IHC which led to her joining Aperio in 2007 where she supported and then managed image analysis products for digital pathology. After acquisition of Aperio by Leica in late 2012, Dr. Lillard joined Indica Labs as Chief Scientific Officer where she supports, promotes, and helps guide the development of digital pathology image analysis solutions for the life sciences. Katie McKinley Katie is responsible for the commercial growth of Indica’s clinical image management platforms and clinical AI. Working closely with clinical laboratories, she applies her experience of the clinical market and pathology workflow optimization to support institutions as they transition away from glass. Katie has held a variety of customer-facing roles over the years, entering the digital pathology industry in 2009. Markus Plass Markus Plass is a member of the Information Science and Machine Learning Group at the Diagnostic and Research Center for Molecular BioMedicine at the Medical University of Graz, Austria. He holds a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Technical University Graz. At the university institute for pathology, he is also in charge of the transformation to digital pathology. His main research interests lie in digital pathology, machine learning and process optimization of digital workflows.
Dr. Wiebke Solass Wiebke Solass is the Head of Gynecopathology at the Institute of Tissue Medicine and Pathology at the University Bern. Her main area of research is translational research on the peritoneum, with a focus on peritoneal metastases. She developed and validated the Peritoneal Regression Score PRGS, an innovative score for assessing the response of peritoneal metastases to therapy. The PRGS is now used in Europe, the USA and Asia. It is part of over 40 publications. The PRGS is currently being used in 20 clinical trials. Currently she is working on further increasing the prognostic and predictive value of PRGS with the help of molecular data and the use of artificial intelligence. Dr. Katherine Sheehan Dr. Sheehan obtained her degree in Medicine from the Royal College of Surgeon in Ireland (RCSI) and went on to obtain a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Dublin, Trinity College. She subsequently specialized in Histopathology, with a Fellowship from the Royal College of Pathologists in London, UK, and is also a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. Her research interests began with a sabbatical at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, USA, studying the interactions between cell types in the tumor microenvironment. She is currently practicing Clinical Pathology in the Dept of Pathology at Blackrock Health, Dublin, where she was responsible for introducing Digital Pathology. She is also a senior lecturer in the Dept of Pathology at RCSI and has a special interest in the application of Digital solutions and artificial intelligence in Clinical Pathology. |