Journal of Microscopy announces 2025 Early Career Researcher ‘Best Paper’ prize winners
The Editors of the Journal of Microscopy are pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 ‘Best Paper’ awards for Early Career Researchers.
Each prize was £200 and was judged by General Editor Professor Michelle Peckham and our team of Scientific Editors.
Life sciences
For life sciences, Dr Elnaz Fazeli was awarded the prize for ‘From cells to pixels: A decision tree for designing bioimage analysis pipelines’.
General Editor, Michelle Peckham, said: “This paper was a great, well thought out introduction to bioimaging analysis pipelines that is likely to be really useful to new starters in the field”.
Elnaz said: “From cells to pixels: A decision tree for designing bioimage analysis pipelines” was a collaborative effort that actually began on Twitter as a light and fun exchange of ideas between bioimage analysts from Finland, Germany, France, Hong Kong and Japan. Over time it grew into a passion project, strongly inspired by challenges we encounter daily while working in a microscopy core facility.
“A recurring issue is communication: biologists often have rich imaging data but are not always sure what kinds of quantitative information can be extracted from their images, while image analysts may struggle to understand exactly what biological questions need to be answered. The goal of the paper was to help bridge this gap. We developed a guide for researchers by categorizing the types of shapes and patterns present in biological images and connecting them to suitable bioimage analysis approaches.
“My hope is that this framework helps biologists think more clearly about what they can measure from their images and facilitates more effective communication with bioimage analysts/core facility staff when designing analysis pipelines.”
Physical sciences
For physical sciences, Dr Alexandra Sheader was awarded the prize for ‘Subcellular localisation and identification of single atoms using quantitative scanning transmission electron microscopy’.
Scientific Editor, Vinayak Dravid, said: “Alexandra Sheader et al. deliver a notable methodological advance by demonstrating the localisation, identification, and quantitative weighing of individual heavy atoms within biological tissue using calibrated high-angle ADF STEM. Through meticulous detector normalisation, cross-section quantification, and simulation-validated analysis, the authors achieve atomic-scale compositional mapping in cryosectioned dorsal root ganglia—revealing nanoscale platinum aggregations following oxaliplatin treatment and establishing a pathway for subcellular elemental detection with unprecedented sensitivity.
“The work stands out for its conceptual clarity, technical sophistication, and broader implications for biomedical microscopy, representing a substantive contribution to the field.”
Alexandra said: “I’m really delighted to have been awarded the Journal of Microscopy ECR ‘Best Paper’ prize. This research focused on identifying the species of single atoms within sections of peripheral nerve tissue using HAADF‑STEM imaging, in order to trace platinum that had accumulated inside cells following treatment with a Pt‑based drug.
“Quantitative STEM imaging is always challenging - especially when you’re trying to detect individual atoms in a cell that is hundreds of thousands of times larger! This work took a lot of iteration and many hours at the microscope, but I think it really highlights the power and versatility of electron microscopy in tackling complex problems - as well as the value of attempting experiments that you might initially assume won’t work!”
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