Partnerships between public institutions and private industry have become a hallmark of dynamic scientific advancement, particularly in the translational space. As explicitly translational paradigms like precision medicine have advanced, the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of the University of Southern California and Olympus formed a partnership to address some of the key scientific, technological, and computational challenges associated with evolving needs in cancer medicine. This article highlights some of the specific microscopy innovation and scientific challenges addressed by the partnership.

Each year, the Microscopy Society of America (MSA) provides several major awards for outstanding contributions to the fields of microscopy and microanalysis and for service to the Society. While recipients of these awards are listed under the tab Awards & Scholarships – Society Awards | Microscopy Society of America on the MSA homepage, little information as to why awards were bestowed is provided. In this initial installment of what will become an annual contribution to Microsocopy Today, Miaofang Chi, Chair of the MSA Awards Committee, and I provide a perspective on the important contributions of the 2020 Award winners. The information presented here represents a short summary of information provided in the awardees’ nomination packages. Guidelines, including deadlines for nominating individuals for these and other MSA awards, can be found by following the above link.