Labroots In Review - 2025

In 2025, Labroots continued its ongoing momentum in scientific networking and virtual events, building on more than a decade of innovation and growth. Now, into its 17th year, the passion that has defined Labroots since its founding in 2008 remains strong. Labroots remains a leader in scientific social networking and virtual events with over 5 million users, driven by the dedication of its team and the visionary leadership of founders Greg and Don Cruikshank. 

This year's retrospective highlights Labroots’ continued commitment to innovation with the introduction of new engagement offerings, including podcasts, personalized user journeys, event partnerships, and speed networking. Our virtual events, including keynote speakers and global participation, continue to unite scientists around cutting-edge research and discovery. Building on 17 years of growth, Labroots has evolved alongside the virtual event landscape while remaining firmly committed to connecting scientists worldwide and creating meaningful opportunities to share knowledge, collaborate, and shape the future of science. 

Major Announcements 

Featured Products of the Year: Podcasts & Speed Networking 

In 2025, Labroots expanded its digital engagement offerings with the introduction of innovative new products, most notably Podcasts and Speed Networking. Podcasts create a dynamic platform for scientific storytelling and thought leadership, extending conversations beyond live events. Additionally, Speed Networking enables fast, meaningful connections between researchers, professionals, and industry partners. Together, these new formats are reshaping how our community shares ideas, builds relationships, and drives collaboration—strengthening Labroots’ impact in the years ahead. 

Podcasts 

Labroots Podcasts feature a variety of scientific podcast episodes that showcase in-depth conversations with researchers and thought leaders across disciplines. Recent episodes include topics such as: 

• Celebrating a Year of Chromatography and insights from chromatography experts.  

• Life of Her Mind episodes, featuring interviews with scientists like Dr. Stephanie Poindexter on primatology and Dr. Daphna Joel on neuroscience of sex and gender.  

The podcasts aim to explore scientific careers, research insights, and emerging ideas in science, providing listeners with educational content and expert perspectives across fields. 

Speed Networking 

To enhance the virtual event experience, Labroots introduced Speed Networking with the goal of attendees connecting with each other in condensed timeframes. This includes short, 3-minute sessions where attendees are encouraged to introduce themselves, why they’re attending the virtual event, and their personal and professional goals. While total Speed Networking sessions are currently only 20 minutes, giving attendees up to six opportunities to engage with others, Labroots hopes to expand this for 2026.  

New Products & Features 

In 2025, Labroots continued producing a robust lineup of virtual scientific events featuring interactive learning and networking opportunities for the life sciences community. User Journeys guided attendees through curated, high-value sessions and resources, Event Partnerships expanded reach and strengthened programming through collaborations with scientific and industry organizations, and Speed Networking enabled fast, structured one-on-one connections that increased engagement and fostered meaningful professional relationships throughout the year. 

Trial Packages 

Digital Media & Webinar Trial Package 

The Digital Media & Webinar Trial Package is an all-in-one solution designed to amplify your message, expand reach, and drive engagement across multiple high-impact digital channels. This package includes: 

• 1 Webinar 

• 1 Banner Ad for 1 Month 

• 5 Newsletter Sponsorships 

• 1 Email Blast to 10K Recipients 

• 5 Social Media Posts 

• 3 Sponsored Articles 

Webinar and Virtual Event (WAVE) Trial Package 

Like our Digital Media & Webinar Trail Package, our Webinar and Virtual Event (WAVE) Trial Package is an all-in-one solution designed to enhance the virtual experience for clients, attendees, and sponsors while prioritizing engagement and connectivity. This package includes: 

• 1 Webinar 

• 2 Virtual Events (get to choose) 

• 2 Virtual Event Booths OR 2 Track Speakers OR 1 Virtual Event Booth & 1 Track Speaker 

Digital Advertising Trial Package 

The Digital Advertising Trial Package is a streamlined, multi-channel solution built to boost brand visibility, reach targeted audiences, and drive engagement across Labroots’ digital platforms: 

• 1 Banner Ad for 1 Month 

• 5 Newsletter Sponsorships 

• 1 Email Blast to 10k Recipients 

• 5 Social Media Posts 

• 3 Sponsored Articles 

Custom Trial Packages 

Labroots has a long history of flexibility and adaptability, as we are proud to provide custom trial packages if our fixed packages don’t meet the needs of our clients, sponsors, and attendees. Our custom packages can be tailored to achieve your event's goals, whether it’s a virtual event, hybrid event, or webinar. Specifically, Labroots prioritizes return on investment for all parties, including engagement, monetization, or sponsorship. 

Labroots Virtual Events: Highlights from 2026 

Notable Keynotes 

Drug Discovery & Development 

Volkmar Weissig, ScD, PhD, MS, BS - Professor of Pharmacology (tenured) and Biomedical Sciences, Midwestern University  

Keynote Presentation: Exosomes versus Liposomes as Next Generation Therapeutics w/ Live Q&A  

Frank Sistare, PhD - Adjunct Professor within the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill  

Keynote Presentation: Impact on Pharmaceutical Development of the New Addendum to Testing for Carcinogenicity of Pharmaceuticals Within the ICH S1B(R1) Guideline  

Neuroscience 

Timothy E. Brown, PhD - Assistant Professor, University of Washington, Department of Bioethics & Humanities 

Keynote Presentation: A Cross-Contextual Approach to the Ethics of Neurotechnologies w/ Live Q&A 

Laboratory Automation 

Benjamin Yellen, PhD - Co-Founder, CEO, Celldom  

Keynote Presentation: Function First Live Cell Screening in Microwells for Applications in Cell Line Development w/ Live Q&A 

Bioprocessing 

Jamie B. Spangler, PhD - Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University  

Keynote Presentation: Reshaping the Immunotherapy Landscape Through Molecular Engineering with Live Q&A 

Pankaj Karande, PhD - Associate Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 

Keynote Presentation: Rational and Combinatorial Design of Peptides for ss-mRNA/ds-mRNA Separation and Purification with Live Q&A 

Konstanze Schiessl - Chief Scientific Officer, onCyt Microbiology AG  

Keynote Presentation: Quantifying Biological Parameters with Online Flow Cytometry - Boosting Bioprocesses by Providing Single-Cell Data in 24/7 Resolution with Live Q&A 

Cannabis Sciences 

Dr. Jokūbas Žiburkus, PhD - Adendox LLC and Uniwyze, Inc.  

Keynote Presentation: Demystifying Cannabis: A Need for Universal Product Taxonomy for Informed Choices with Live Q&A 

Kaitlyn White, MA, MS - Scientific Affairs Manager, Radicle Science  

Keynote Presentation: Psychological Insights, Not Metaphysicial Beliefs, Drive Psychedelic Benefits with Live Q&A 

Susan J. Hewlings, PhD, RD - Vice President of Research Affairs, Radicle Science  

Keynote Presentation: Current Trends in Cannabis Science Research with Live Q&A 

Immuno-Oncology 

Laura Griffin, PhD - Field Applications Scientist, Taconic Biosciences  

Keynote Presentation: Immuno-Oncology Application of Humanized Immune System (HIS) Mice Supporting Human Myeloid and Lymphoid Cells 

Melanie Rutkowski, PhD - Associate Professor, UVA  

Keynote Presentation: Microbiome Mediated Mechanisms of Immune Therapy Failure for Ovarian Cancer with Live Q&A 

Kellie Smith, PhD - Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy 

Keynote Presentation: Immunogenomic Characterization of Tumor-Reactive TIL in Lung Cancers w/ Live Q&A 

Precision Medicine: Genomics, Genetics & Molecular Diagnostics 

Robert C. Green, MD, MPH - Professor of Medicine (Genetics), Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School  

Keynote Presentation: The Path to Universal Newborn Sequencing with Live Q&A 

Peter L. Nagy, MD., PhD - Chief Medical Officer, Praxis Genomics  

Keynote Presentation: One week turnaround time for NIPT result confirmation and abnormal ultrasound follow-up using short read genome and transcriptome sequencing with Live Q&A 

Microbiology 

Robert Davey, PhD - Director, Professor, National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), Boston University, Boston, MA, USA  

Keynote Presentation: Timing Is Everything: Deconstructing the Ebola Virus Infection Program by CRISPR w/ Live Q&A 

Jeanne A. Jordan, PhD, HCLD(ABB), MT(ASCP) - Professor emerita at GWU  

Keynote Presentation: Point of Care Testing for Infectious Disease ID POCT w/ Live Q&A 

Cell Biology 

Dr. Ivan Robert Nabi, PhD - Professor, University of British Columbia  

Keynote Presentation: SuperResNET: Learning in-cell macromolecular architecture from SMLM data w/ Live Q&A 

Cancer Research & Oncology 

Kellie Smith, PhD - Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy  

Keynote Presentation: Characterizing the phenotype, function, and spatial interactions of tumor-reactive TIL 

Cell & Gene Therapy 

Marco Ruella, MD - Associate Professor of Medicine; Scientific Director, Lymphoma Program; University of Pennsylvania  

Keynote Presentation: Outsmarting the Escape Artist: Resistance in CAR T-Cell Therapy for Hematologic Cancers w/ Live Q&A 

Dr. Pia Johansson - Director of the Cell and Gene Technologies Core (CAGT core) at Lund Stem cell Centre at Lund University  

Keynote Presentation: CRISPR Meets iPSCs: Powering the New Wave of Biomedical Discovery 

CRISPR 

David Schaffer, PhD - Professor, UC Berkeley; Director of QB3; Director of Bakar Labs  

Keynote Presentation: CRISPR-Enabled Directed Evolution of Enhanced Oncolytic Viruses for Cancer Gene Therapy w/ Live Q&A 

Dr. Hao Yin - Hongyi Distinguished Professor at Wuhan University in China  

Keynote Presentation: Efficient and Precise duplication and Inversion of Genomic DNA from Large to Chromosomal Scale W/ Live Q&A 

Clinical Diagnostics & Research 

Istvan Petak, MD, PhD - Founder, Chief Scientific Officer: Genomate Health 
Research Professor: University of Istvan Szechenyi, Gyor, HU 
Adjunct Professor: University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)  

Keynote Presentation: Selecting Targeted Cancer Therapies and Clinical Trials with Computational Reasoning 

Jieli (Shirley) Li, MD, PhD - Associate Professor, The Ohio State University  

Keynote Presentation: Translating Global Indicators into Local Impact: Benchmarking and Root Cause Analysis in a Multi-Lab Health 

Xuehai Wang, PhD - Scientific Director, Clinical Flow Cytometry Lab @ BC Cancer  

Keynote Presentation: High-parameter Flow Cytometry in Clinical Lab  

Networking Opportunities  

Labroots spent 2025 strengthening our networking opportunities through professional profiles, live webinars, virtual conferences, and interactive features like chat, Q&A, poster sessions, and exhibitor halls, enabling users to connect with researchers, industry experts, and peers worldwide. Ongoing engagement is supported through shared science content, interest-based discovery, and gamified participation that encourages continued community interaction. 

Poster Sessions 

In 2025, Labroots witnessed an incredible year of poster sessions and presentations for all our virtual events, with a total of 136 posters accepted across 13 virtual events. This included some incredible poster discussion hours, with Cannabis Sciences and Drug Discovery & Development standing out as a huge success. Both events saw posters being selected as poster winners, which were published on the Labroots site: 

Labroots 2025 Drug Discovery & Development Poster Winner: Dr. Jong-Hyuk Lee 

Labroots 2025 Cannabis Sciences Poster Winner: Dr. Flor Ortiz and Dr. Mish Castillo 

Top 5 Most Read Trending News Articles 

In 2025, Labroots expanded its footprint for their Trending News articles and readers. This was accomplished by its strong team of freelance writers, many of whom have been with Labroots for 5-10 years, while continuing to strengthen their full-time marketing and editing team. This resulted in peak viewership and traffic since the company’s 2008 founding. Below are the top 5 most viewed Trending News articles in 2025.  

Coffee: a gut superfood? (Plants & Animals) 

Author: Greta Anne 

Summary: Coffee’s bioactive compounds interact with the gut microbiome, where polyphenols are metabolized into beneficial compounds. Regular coffee consumption is linked to greater microbial diversity, increased beneficial bacteria, reduced harmful species, and lower inflammation, which may support long-term gut and overall health. 

Cardiac Biomarkers Also Predict Cancer Risk (Cancer) 

Author: Dr. Katie Kokolus  

Summary: A long-term study found that people with early signs of heart stress were more likely to develop cancer later in life. Tracking these heart-related markers could help identify individuals at higher cancer risk and support earlier screening and prevention efforts. 

Freeze on the National Institutes of Health (NIH): What Does this Mean for Researchers and Scientists? (Immunology) 

Author: Brian G. Morreale  

Summary: The Trump administration froze major NIH activities, stopping grant reviews, funding, hiring, and diversity programs. The pause delayed biomedical research, disrupted scientific careers, and raised concerns about long-term impacts on U.S. science and public health. 

Babesiosis is Emerging in the Mid-Atlantic (Clinical & Molecular DX) 

Author: Carmen Leitch  

Summary: Babesiosis, a tick-borne parasitic disease, is spreading into the Mid-Atlantic, with new locally acquired cases reported in DC, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Researchers also found additional tick species carrying the parasite and frequent co-infection with Lyme disease, raising public health concerns. 

Is CBD Use Higher Among Cannabis Users? (Cannabis Sciences) 

Author: Annie Lennon  

Summary: A new study found that CBD use is much more common among cannabis users than non-users. Use was also higher among women, adults, White individuals, and people reporting poorer health, underscoring the need for better public education on CBD safety and use. 

Top 3 Infographics of 2025 

Is a Dog's Mouth Really Cleaner Than a Human's Mouth? 

Author: Laurence Tognetti, MSc  

Summary: The piece explores whether a dog’s mouth is truly “cleaner” than a human’s and highlights the potential health risks of dog kisses, emphasizing that proper dental hygiene is important for both pets and people. 

The Chemistry of Color 

Author: Laurence Tognetti, MSc  

Summary: The piece explores the chemistry behind color—why we see certain colors, their chemical basis, and why they matter—highlighting key features of color chemistry and real-world examples of how scientists and engineers use it in everyday products. 

Deep Sea Ecosystems 

Author: Laurence Tognetti, MSc  

Summary: The piece examines deep-sea ecosystems, which exist in extreme darkness, pressure, and cold at depths reaching 36,000 feet, and highlights how uniquely adapted organisms like giant isopods, anglerfish, and Japanese spider crabs can thrive in these harsh environments. 

2025 Labroots Scholarship Recipients 

In 2025, Labroots remains dedicated to empowering the next generation of scientists through a range of prestigious scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students. These programs, including the Undergraduate Back-To-School Scholarship, Graduate Back-To-School Scholarship, and Travel Scholarship, remain highly competitive. As always, we are proud to celebrate and spotlight the exceptional achievements of our Labroots Scholarship recipients. 

Xiaolei Ren - Information Science and Robotics Engineering undergraduate student at the Illinois Institute of Technology - https://www.labroots.com/blog/celebrating-labroots-2025-fall-undergraduate-back-to-school-scholarship-winner-xiaolei-ren  

Maggie Moss - First-year Geosciences PhD student at Colorado State University - https://www.labroots.com/blog/celebrating-labroots-2025-fall-graduate-research-scholarship-winner-maggie-moss  

Iwinosa Aideyan - Computer Engineering PhD student at Clemson University - https://www.labroots.com/blog/celebrating-labroots-2025-spring-travel-scholarship-winner-iwinosa-aideyan  

Client Testimonials 

Yulia Rolt from Angle Plc for their October Webinar -  

"Wonderful webinar platform and excellent campaign services from LabRoots! 

We used LabRoots as a platform to run the Glio webinar in October, 2025. We are very impressed with the services which LabRoots provided to us: from a special promotion (2 webinars for the price of 1), through putting the promotional campaign to advertise and promote our webinar to LabRoots community, until meticulously orchestrating and executing the webinar. The communication process with Liana Negron, Sydney Penilla, Tammie McFrlane went very smoothly from the beginning, the ladies put a campaign plan very efficiently and professionally, they have been very creative in email and social media assets. They always responded to any of our requests and changes very quickly, they worked with our speakers on pre-recording smoothly. Not just us at ANGLE were pleased with LabRoots services, but also our speakers. 
 

We generated 315 leads from the webinar. We highly recommend to use LabRoots and their team for any advertising campaigns to the world of science!” 

Lam Nguyan at Bio-Rad: 
“Labroots proved to be an exceptional partner in amplifying our educational content for the clinical diagnostics audience through diverse digital marketing channels. Their team was highly engaged, organized, and responsive throughout our campaigns, delivering timely metrics and adapting seamlessly to content changes. We always felt prioritized and supported throughout the campaign process. For a reliable partner to elevate your marketing efforts, Labroots is your partner of choice.” 

Jason Scott, CEO Pro Cloud Marketing Group: 

"My experience developing a Virtual Summit with Chati / Labroots was truly great. Their team provided my company with exceptional 5 Star Service while setting up our Event. Chati truly provided an Interactive Virtual Platform that hundreds and even thousands of participants can access and it allows my company to review the analytics of the attendees."