Bio+MedVis Challenge @ IEEE VIS 2025 – Program
Sunday, November 2, 2025
9:00 AM - 12:30 PM (CET)
Keynote Talk
From Rendering to Reasoning: Evolving Visualization for Life Sciences
Stefan Bruckner, Professor, Chair of Visual Analytics, University of Rostock, Germany.
Abstract: In the past decades, visualization in the life sciences has matured from a focus on making images to a deeper mission of making sense. In this talk, I examine this evolution through the lens of human-computer collaboration: how we moved from raw rendering, to interpretable visual representation, to interactive co-exploration, and finally to reasoning and communication at scale. Along this trajectory, visualization has expanded its role from a technical enabler of data display to an intellectual partner in discovery and decision-making. The talk highlights key milestones, examples, and open challenges that illustrate how visualization increasingly serves as a medium for shared reasoning between humans, data, and intelligent systems.
Block 1 (90 minutes)
| Time | Duration | Session |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 - 9:05 | 5 min | Welcome and Introduction |
| 9:05 - 10:00 | 55 min | Keynote Talk by Stefan Bruckner (45 min + 10 min discussion) |
| 10:00 - 10:05 | 5 min | Challenge Introduction General overview and main challenge details |
| 10:05 - 10:10 | 5 min | t-SNE based Transfer Functions for Multi-attribute Volume Rendering [Award of Merit] Ravi Snellenberg, TU Delft Thomas Höllt, TU Delft |
| 10:10 - 10:15 | 5 min | Attention-based ROI Discovery in 3D Tissue Images [Award of Merit] Hossein Fathollahian, University of Illinois Chicago Siyuan Zhao, University of Illinois Chicago Nafiul Nipu, University of Illinois Chicago G. Elisabeta Marai, University of Illinois Chicago |
| 10:15 - 10:20 | 5 min | Made of Stars [Award of Merit] Hauke Bartsch, University of Bergen Lennart Elbe, University of California, San Francisco Pia Elbe, University of Konstanz |
| 10:20 - 10:25 | 5 min | GPU-Based Collocation Visualization of Immune Niches in 3D Cyclic
Immunofluorescence Images Uroš Šmajdek, Faculty for Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana Eva Boneš, Faculty for Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana Ciril Bohak, Faculty for Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana |
| 10:25 - 10:30 | 5 min | BioSET - Biomarker-based Spatial co-Expression analysis in Tumor environments [Award of Excellence] Chahat Kalsi, New York University Yuancheng Shen, New York University Sophia Gaupp, University of Tübingen Luca Reichmann, University of Tübingen Meri Rogava, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell Michael Krone, Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences Saeed Boorboor, University of Illinois Chicago Robert Krüger, New York University |
Coffee Break
10:30 - 11:00 AM (30 minutes)
Block 2 (90 minutes)
| Time | Duration | Session |
|---|---|---|
| 11:00 - 11:05 | 5 min | Redesign Challenge Introduction |
| 11:05 - 11:10 | 5 min | MRSight: Visualizing Insights for Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy [Award of Merit] Ke Er Amy Zhang, University of Bergen Shehryar Saharan, University of Toronto |
| 11:10 - 11:15 | 5 min | SpectraScope: An Interactive Redesign of Multi-Subject MRS Visualization and Metabolite Ratio Analysis Melkamu Achamyeleh Alemu, Federal University of Viçosa Sabrina de Azevedo Silveira, Federal University of Viçosa Vitor B. Souza, Federal University of Viçosa |
| 11:15 - 11:20 | 5 min | Multi-View Visual Analysis of Chemical Shifts in Magnetic Resonance
Spectroscopy [Award of Merit] Tim Markwardt, Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research Antonios Raptakis, Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research Nicola M. Drüeke, Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research Davy Göbel, Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research Steve Dübel, Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research Lars Nonnemann, Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research |
| 11:20 - 11:25 | 5 min | Interactive Redesign of 31P-MRS Spectra Visualization Using Jupyter Notebook in Google Colab for Enhanced Neurometabolic Interpretation Msugh Ortil, Federal University of Viçosa Sabrina De Azevedo Silveira, Federal University of Viçosa Julio Cesar Soares Dos Reis, Federal University of Viçosa |
| 11:25 - 11:30 | 5 min | Interactive Visual Analytics for Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Data Emanuel V.C. Ruella, Federal University of Viçosa |
| 11:30 - 11:35 | 5 min | MRSight: Ratio-Weighted Complete and Visibility Graphs for MRS Data
Visualization and Assessment [Award of Excellence] Ahmed Hajhamed, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Systems, Cairo University, Egypt Zeyad Wail, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Systems, Cairo University, Egypt Mohamed Ahmed, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Systems, Cairo University, Egypt Ammar Yassir, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Systems, Cairo University, Egypt Muhammad Rushdi, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Systems, Cairo University, Egypt |
| 11:35 - 11:40 | 5 min | From Peaks to Patterns [Award of Merit] Hossein Fathollahian, University of Illinois Chicago Marziye Salahshour, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago |
| 11:40 - 12:15 | 35 min | Roundtable Discussion & Q&A |
| 12:15 - 12:25 | 10 min | Discussion Wrap-up |
| 12:25 - 12:30 | 5 min | Closing Remarks |
Note: This is a tentative program and may be subject to changes.