Workshops

Prior to the main conference, AMI 2025 offered a series of hands-on workshops on Wednesday, July 16. These optional, add-on sessions gave participants the chance to deepen their skills, explore specialized topics, and learn directly from experienced professionals in a small-group setting.

Workshops were available for advance registration and covered a variety of areas relevant to medical illustration and visual communication. Sessions that did not meet the minimum enrollment were canceled in advance, and affected registrants were given the option to receive a refund or transfer to another available workshop.

Thank you to all who participated and to our incredible workshop instructors for sharing their time and expertise.

Full Day Workshop

Half Day Workshops

Full Day Workshop

Modeling Protein Structures and Interactions for Molecular Illustrations and Animations

Wednesday, July 16 | 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Cost: $150 Member | $200 Nonmember

Note: Attendees will be required to bring their own technology. See more details under Info for Participants.

Instructor: Derek Ng

In this workshop, you will gain hand-on experience in acquiring, evaluating, and integrating molecular structural data to model protein structures and their associated interactions. Through a series of real-world case studies, I will share some of my general strategies and approaches for tackling a variety of molecular visualization projects, including how to deal with practical issues such as cleaning up structural data, integrating multiple data sources to model missing/incomplete structures and interactions, and balancing the many factors to consider when deciding on whether a data source is right for a given project’s communication goals(s), messaging, venue, and target audience. Additional topics we will cover include modeling drug/ligand binding, modeling post-translational modifications (e.g., glycosylation, phosphorylation, etc.), and integrating structure prediction tools/strategies (e.g., AlphaFold, Swiss Model, etc.) into your visualization workflows. We will primarily use Chimera X as our main tool (supplemented with additional online tools/servers) for molecular model building. The materials covered in this workshop will be applicable for most downstream 3D workflows/software (e.g., Maya, Cinema 4D, Blender, and 3ds Max). This workshop will comprise of mini-lectures, demos, exercises, and practical case studies.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

Balance the many factors to consider when deciding on whether a molecular structure is right for a given project’s communication goal(s), messaging, venue, and target audience.
Acquire, evaluate, and integrate structural data from multiple sources during model building to create well-informed and scientifically accurate molecular models for visualization.
Identify and implement the appropriate strategies for dealing with common molecular visualization scenarios such as cleaning up structural data, modeling missing/incomplete structures, and modeling molecular interactions.

Info for Participants

Breakfast and lunch are included and will be provided onsite at the hotel.
- Breakfast will be served from 7:00 - 8:00 am.
- Lunch will be served from 12:00 - 1:00 pm.
All attendees are required to bring their own laptops, a three-button mouse, and install the latest version of ChimeraX (https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/) before the workshop.
All attendees are expected to watch the following AMI webinars prior to attending the workshop (links will be provided after registering):
- Beginners Guide to the Protein Data Bank – Veronica Falconieri Hays
- Modeling Protein Structures & Interactions – Derek Ng

Half Day Workshops

Exploring the Thorax and Abdomen: A Hands-On Dissection and Sketching Workshop

Wednesday, July 16 | 8:00 am - 12:00 pm

Cost: $350 Member | $405 Nonmember

Instructors: Dr. Ryan Tubbs, Rylee Lane, and Dr. Amber Heard-Booth

Note: This workshop will be held offsite at the Secchia Center. See more details under Info for Participants.

This hands-on workshop offers participants the chance to deepen their anatomical understanding of the cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive systems through dissection and sketching of fully embalmed human bodies. The workshop will begin with instruction in dissection techniques. A rotating team of participants will then follow a dissection guide to remove the layers of the body wall to open the thorax and the abdomen under the supervision of anatomy faculty and staff from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

While not dissecting, participants will have an opportunity to sketch from the completed teaching specimens in our active gross anatomy laboratory. Participants will be able to reference fifteen full cadavers and a full teaching collection of isolated organs in order to observe gross pathologies and to deepen their appreciation of human variation.

Learning Objectives

After participating in this session, attendees should be able to:

Apply foundational dissection techniques to reveal important anatomical structures.
Identify key anatomical features of the thorax and abdomen.
Describe the three-dimensional spatial relationships of thoracic and abdominal organs.
Create detailed anatomical sketches from human prosected cadavers, including those with gross pathologies.

Info for Participants

Logistics:

Breakfast is included and will be provided at the hotel prior to workshop from 7:00 - 7:30 am.
The workshop will be hosted at the Secchia Center just a few blocks from the host hotel. Attendees are responsible for their own transportation or walking to the workshop facility.

Workshop Details:

Personal protective equipment, including lab coat, gloves, safety glasses and dissection tools will be provided.
Participants must wear a shirt that covers shoulders, pants or skirt covering the legs to the ankles, and closed-toe and closed heel shoes (crocs not allowed).
Please bring your own drawing materials including a sketchbook, graphite, charcoal, colored pencils, and/or pastels.
The lab has sinks, so wet media such as watercolors can be used.
Tablets and iPads may also be used for drawing, but photography is strictly prohibited to protect the privacy of the donors.

Anatomy of the Limbs: A Hands-On Dissection and Sketching

Wednesday, July 16 | 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Cost: $350 Member | $405 Nonmember

Instructors: Dr. Ryan Tubbs, Rylee Lane, and Dr. Sutton Williams

Note: This workshop will be held offsite at the Secchia Center. See more details under Info for Participants.

This interactive workshop provides participants with a unique opportunity to enhance their understanding of the musculoskeletal system through dissection and sketching of the limbs of fully embalmed human bodies. The workshop will begin with a short review of limb anatomy, followed by a demonstration using ultrasound to review the important anatomy of the limbs.

Participants will then receive instruction in dissection techniques before working in a team to complete a dissection of either an upper or lower limb, following a dissection guide and under the supervision of anatomy faculty and staff from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

Learning Objectives

Info for Participants

Logistics:

Lunch is included and will be provided at the hotel prior to workshop from 12:00 - 12:30 pm pm.
The workshop will be hosted at the Secchia Center just a few blocks from the host hotel. Attendees are responsible for their own transportation or walking to the workshop facility.

Workshop Details:

Personal protective equipment, including lab coat, gloves, safety glasses and dissection tools will be provided.
Participants must wear a shirt that covers shoulders, pants or skirt covering the legs to the ankles, and closed-toe and closed heel shoes (crocs not allowed).
Please bring your own drawing materials including a sketchbook, graphite, charcoal, colored pencils, and/or pastels.
The lab has sinks, so wet media such as watercolors can be used.
Tablets and iPads may also be used for drawing, but photography is strictly prohibited to protect the privacy of the donors.