Dr. Yolanda Mahnke

Dr. Yolanda D. Mahnke is the founder and president of FlowKnowHow LLC, a flow cytometry consulting company; Associate Editor for OMIPs and Oncoimmunology at Cytometry Part A; and Scientific Advisor at FluoroFinder. Dr. Mahnke has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London, UK, and a PhD in Immunology from the Open University in London, UK, for work performed at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany. Flow cytometry quickly became an integral part of her research, whether applied for the study of T-cell memory in murine models, or to investigate the human immune system in health and disease. She co-developed a highly sensitive flow cytometry-based cytotoxicity assay, and developed many multi-parameter panels. The effort required to establish a reliable multi-color immunofluorescence panel from scratch led her to develop a clear methodology that is widely referenced and quoted by researchers, instrument manufacturers, and panel builder tools. In 2010, together with colleagues at the VRC and in close collaboration with Cytometry Part A, Dr. Mahnke developed a novel publication platform to encourage the sharing of optimized multicolor immunofluorescence panels (OMIPs). She was awarded the Marylou Ingram Scholarship from the International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC) in 2014, and remains an active member in ISAC’s committees. Dr. Mahnke works with a variety of clients in her capacity as flow cytometry consultant, her services ranging from providing training, helping to design and develop panels, and analysing and interpreting data, to assisting instrument manufacturers.