SOULCAP
SOULCAP Foundation is a global non-for-profit organization dedicated to building a universal standard for immune cell identification and annotation. By defining such standards and harmonizing annotation practices, we address one of the key challenges in scientific research: reproducibility.
Our community-driven initiative unites subject matter and technology experts around the world, who are using existing knowledge to align on best annotation practices, but goes beyond to generate new reference datasets to support our position.
The SOULCAP Foundation empowers stakeholders worldwide to contribute, align, and benefit from a common language. These standards are informed and correlated to existing global ontologies, and will be translated to open-source bioinformatics tools and made publicly accessible.
“This effort is motivated by the idea that in the context of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data in science, common terminology is crucial. Similar to how everyone can look at an X-ray and agree that a bone should be labelled "tibia", I believe having bivariate plots labelled the same way will be transformative. High throughput automated gating of cell populations is coming, especially through ML approaches that will be able to efficiently and effectively re-gate all the data that is sitting around in organizations now and going forward. When we combine that with standardized labelling, we will be able to link studies across datasets and fundamentally change the funnel of data available for predictive science and significantly increase the ROI on collected data.”
SOULCAP Foundation accelerates immunology breakthroughs by establishing global standards for immune cell identification and annotation in cytometry research. Through open-source tools, vendor partnerships, and global scientific collaboration, we enhance research reproducibility and unite scientists, clinicians, industry leaders, and regulatory agencies in transforming how the world understands and measures immune function.
We envision a future where seamless integration of cytometry data and trustworthy AI-driven insights accelerate the discovery of life-saving therapies, enabling precision medicine that transforms patient outcomes worldwide.
The SOULCAP Foundation is registered as a 501(c)(3 ) non-for-profit organization.
Our guiding principles are:
Scientific integrity
Open collaboration
Respect for intellectual contributions
Inclusivity
Stewardship
SOULCAP operates through a multi-layered governance structure that balances scientific rigor, operational efficiency, and community engagement. This model ensures that standards are shaped by experts across disciplines while remaining open, transparent, and inclusive.
Founders: Ryan Brinkman, Goce Bogdanoski, Kelly Lundsten, Kamila Czechowska
Board of Directors: Ryan Brinkman (President), Goce Bogdanoski (Vice President), Kelly Lundsten (Treasurer), Kamila Czechowska (Secretary), Jessica Huston
Executive Team: Kelly Lundsten, Sofie Van Gassen, Sarah Bonte, Kamila Czechowska, Goce Bogdanoski, Alexander Diehl, Brian Wile & Tony Chadderton, Marsha Hartman, Ryan Brinkman
SOULCAP-ers work together in teams that drive the organization forward:
Committees design, implement, and maintain functions that keep SOULCAP going.
Working Groups drive technical development of standards and tools, ensuring deliverables are relevant across modalities and applications.
Task Forces are shorter-term, high-impact initiatives designed to address urgent or cross-cutting needs.
👉 [Browse SOULCAP Committees, Working Groups, and Task Forces] (link placeholder)
Committees
Scientific Advisory URL: /about/organization/scientific-advisory
Operations URL: /about/organization/committees/#operations
Strategy & Project Management URL: /about/organization/committees/#strategy-pmo
Community & Outreach URL: /about/organization/committees/#community-outreach
Annotation URL: /about/organization/committees/#annotation
Bioinformatics URL: /about/organization/committees/#bioinformatics
Ontology URL: /about/organization/committees/#ontology
Clinical Validation URL: /about/organization/committees/#clinical-validation
Qualification URL: /about/organization/committees/#qualification
Working Groups
Standards URL: /about/organization/working-groups/#standards
Clinical URL: /about/organization/working-groups/#clinical
AI/ML URL: /about/working-groups/ai-ml
Data URL: /about/working-groups/data
Task Forces
Harmonization URL: /about/task-forces/harmonization
Reference Panels URL: /about/task-forces/reference-panels
SOULCAP connects Academia, Clinics, and Industry to create a common immune data language.
SOULCAP builds bridges across the global immunology community by fostering connections between academia, clinics, and industry. Together, we create a common language for immune data that drives discovery, accelerates clinical translation, and supports innovation in healthcare.
Initiative led by some of the most respected global scientific societies, key opinion leaders, reagent, and manufacturers, biopharma and academic institutions.
List of Societies
List of contributors and companies supporting us
List of external partners
Health Authority engagement: coming up soon
Code of Conduct
Collaboration rules
Governance Charter
Roles & Processes
Governance Charter
Open standards
Governance Charter
Open standards
Explore our organizational structure. Use the filters below to find specific groups by their function.
Guides scientific priorities, ensures rigor and transparency, and aligns with clinical and research needs.
Manages internal processes, legal frameworks, and financial sustainability (supports nonprofit transition).
Drives efficiency across programs, governance, IP disclosure, and workflow optimization.
Builds visibility for SOULCAP’s vision through workshops, conference presentations (CYTO/NIH/NIST), and education.
Defines marker combinations for canonical immune cell subsets using the Delphi Method.
Transforms cytometry data analysis with cutting-edge bioinformatics and FAIR data standards.
Building standardized ontologies to support semantic annotation of immune cell populations.
Focuses on validation of annotation standards in clinical settings, ensuring relevance for diagnostics.
Develops qualification frameworks and standardized protocols for robust data uniformity and validation.
Collaborates with Annotation/Ontology Committees to define canonical immune cell populations and protocols.
Translates standards into diagnostic workflows and builds alignment with regulatory agencies (FDA, MHRA).
Develops frameworks for annotation, ensuring data is FAIR and usable for explainable AI models.
Builds global reference datasets and co-expression databases. Tied to Bioinformatics and Qualification.
Aligns protocols, metadata standards, and data formats across participating labs ensuring reproducibility.
Designs and validates consensus reference panels for multi-site studies and cross-platform standardization.