NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2016 ISSUE NO.
3
IN THIS ISSUE: Meet the fellows:
2
The PHOQUS (PHOtonic tools for Quantitative imaging in Cells and tissUeS) programme has now been running for almost 3 years and the
Salvatore Smirni
2
Sascha Reidt
2
since our last newsletter, we have held our conference in the area of
Valerie Bentivegna
3
biophotonic approaches at the interface of physics and life and medical
fellows have now started the final year of their projects. In the 6 months
Radiation pressure strikes again! 4
sciences and the fellows have been busy
PHOQUS Conference Highlights
with some of the PHOQUS partners;
PHOQUS Fellow wins Poster Award
7 7
10
Recent Publications and Presentations 10 About PHOQUS
• presenting their results (and winning prizes!) at various conferences throughout Europe;
PHOQUS fellows are (still) reaching out 9 Next Events
• working on their research projects, both in Dundee and on secondment
12
• participating in a variety of training events; • interacting with the general public via outreach and public engagement events. In this issue you will meet more of the PHOQUS fellows, find out what they have been doing since they joined the project and hear about the PHOQUS conference and recent outreach and dissemination activities the PHOQUS fellows have been involved in.
Biophotonic approaches: From molecules to living systems Conference
T
he PHOQUS 2016 conference took place at the West Park Conference Centre in Dundee, Scotland from 22nd to 23rd August. The overall theme of the conference was Biophotonic approaches: From molecules to
living systems and featured a packed program of invited talks by research leaders, contributed talks and posters from various conference delegates, mixed with presentations on the R&D results of the PHOQUS Fellows. The talks and posters covered all aspects of the theme, including highlights in in vivo, tissue, high resolution and biomechanical imaging. The conference was divided into a number of sessions, each chaired by the PHOQUS Fellows. The sessions were deliberately mixed in topics to offer more variety during the information rich talks. READ MORE ON PAGE 7 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 608133
NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2016 ISSUE 3
MEET THE FELLOWS... Salvatore Smirni (PHOQUS fellow no. 12) My name is Salvatore and I come from Catania on the east coast of Sicily (Italy). I started my career at the University of Catania where I achieved a BSc in Molecular Biology in 2010, and spent one year as trainee at the department of Biomedical Science learning the main molecular techniques to study gene expression. Later I moved to Pisa where I obtained an MSc in Molecular and Industrial Biotechnologies in 2013, and worked for one year at the Italian National Research Council (CNR). This experience gave me the opportunity to learn more about proteomics, be introduced to the topic of cardiovascular disorders, and publish my first scientific paper. In 2014 I joined the PHOQUS project at the University of Dundee. I moved to Scotland because I was attracted by the interdisciplinary nature of the research and the possibility to link physical, biological and medical knowledge to help the preclinical assessment of cardiovascular risk. The goal of my project is the establishment of novel cardiovascular risk markers related to microcirculatory dysfunction and oxidative stress. The most exciting aspect is the non-invasive approach to the scientific problem, based on shining laser light in the skin and investigating features of the recorded signals, that may contain relevant hidden information related to the biological and health status of the cardiovascular system. The PHOQUS training gives me the opportunity to develop an interdisciplinary professional profile as well as networking in an international environment. For instance, I recently attended the BIGSS2016 Biophotonics Summer School, and joined Professor Martin Leahy’s group at the National University of Ireland for two months where I received training in tissue optics methods to image the microcirculation. In October 2016 I attended the 27th World Congress of the International Union of Angiology (IUA) in Lyon, France, and was awarded the best e-poster prize. I am proud of this achievement because it means that the relevance of biophotonics applications in medicine is starting to be considered worthwhile by the international medical scientific community, and represents the way for the future.
Sascha Reidt (PHOQUS fellow no. 9) My name is Sascha Reidt and I’m from Switzerland. I studied in Zurich at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), where I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Physics. During these early studies I got interested in applying physics to solve biomedical problems, so I continued at ETH with Master’s degree in biomedical engineering, with the main focus on medical physics. As a part of my studies I carried out two research projects in the University Hospital Zurich, first in the Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory, supervised by Prof. Martin Wolf, and then in the Laboratory for Experimental Audiology, supervised by Prof. Norbert Dillier, where I also completed my Master’s thesis. I joined the PHOQUS project at the University of
2
Dundee as a Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher
because
of
its
interdisciplinary
approach,
which
combines my interests in physics and life science. In Dundee, I’m working on light-sheet imaging of highly scattering samples, by using non-diffracting beams and multimodal detection modalities. To date, I’ve developed a light-sheet tomography system together with Daniel O’Brien (PHOQUS fellow no. 7) to study the principle of one of the detection modalities, scattered photons, both in a model and experimentally. I also had the chance to learn about another detection mode, photoacoustic imaging, in the Division of Biomedical Photonics at the University of Bern, where I spent three months on secondment. Back in Dundee, I’m applying the third modality, fluorescence detection, by using a digitally scanned light-sheet microscope in the C.J. Weijer lab at the School of Life Sciences. In this final part of my project we are currently trying different techniques in illumination, detection and post-processing to study tissue dynamics of developing chick embryos.
Valerie Bentivegna (PHOQUS fellow no. 10) My name is Valerie and I’m from Belgium. My interest for interdisciplinary science began when I started studying Bioscence Engineering at the KULeuven. Choosing a Masters, I decided to focus my interest down a little bit, more in term of size than scientific disciplines: I participated in the Erasmus Mundus programme in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Within this programme, I spent the second year of my Masters studies in Grenoble, France, at the Université Joseph Fourier, where I could: improve my French (in vain), take skiing lessons (aka “falling in the snow” classes); but most of all, work at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility for my Masters project. My project dealt with using gadolinium nanoparticles as a tool to diagnose and treat brain tumours using the 9L Glioma tumour model. It allowed me to dabble in chemistry (learning about the fabrication of the nanoparticles), physics (synchrotron radiation for both imaging and therapy), medical physics (magnetic resonance imaging) and cancer biology (tumour models in rats), only increasing my interest in interdisciplinary research. Wanting to continue this interdisciplinary path, joining the PHOQUS programme was the ideal next step. Within this project, I look at the mechanical properties of gut tissue in health in disease. My goal is to develop and adapt quantitative techniques to measure mechanical properties of three-dimensional tissue structures that can be used as model for cancer onset. This work has been both challenging and exciting. It has allowed me to communicate with people from many different fields and expertise to find the best techniques for the job. I have spent a few months in a biomedical company (nuomedis, Basel) to learn about using atomic force microscopy to characterise cells. I am currently working together with a group in Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh to model three-dimensional hollow tissues structures, and with a group in the University of Glasgow on using quantitative microultrasound to measure mechanical properties. Being part of PHOQUS has not only improved my networking and collaboration skills, it also has provided me with countless opportunities to engage with the general public about my project as well as science in general. I have been heavily involved in the Outer Space Inner Space (OSIS) project that brings together images and techniques of space exploration with those of “cell exploration” (biology). I have helped organise the Science of SciFi lecture series and have spoken to Edinburgh’s Saturday shoppers about gut cancer in the Soapbox Science event. Scientific communication and public engagement provides me with an outlet to share my passion for science with the rest of the world, and I will try to continue reaching out to the general public in my future career.
FULL INFORMATION ON ALL PHOQUS FELLOWS CAN BE FOUND ON THE PHOQUS WEB SITE. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 608133
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NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2016 ISSUE 3
Radiation pressure strikes again!
I
THE LASER INTERFEROMETRY GRAVITATIONAL OBSERVATORY (LIGO) MEASURES THE POSITION OF TWO TEST MASSES AT THE END OF 4
n a previous newsletter, I wrote about the connections between solar sails and
KILOMETRE LONG VACCUUM TUBES BY USING A LASER BEAM THAT ALSO CREATES INTERFERENCE
optical tweezers. It might seem strange
ON A PHOTOSENSOR. A PHOTON CALIBRATION ACTUATOR (I.E.
that two machines so vastly different in
ANOTHER LASER) CAN
scale would rely on the same physics.
BE USED TO CALIBRATE
Optical tweezers manipulate objects on the
THE SYSTEM AND INJECT SIMULATED SIGNALS FOR
order of a micrometre or so, while a solar
TESTING PURPOSES.
NOT TO SCALE.
sail producing roughly 8 Newtons of thrust this close to the sun would be about a square kilometre in area. Nonetheless, physics apply everywhere in the universe and the rules don't change (except perhaps with a black hole's event horizon, but
Optical tweezers don't need to be so sensitive as
that's a topic for another day). As PHOQUS fellow no. 6, I build tools
to detect a fluttering in spacetime, but
that use radiation pressure to study the
calibration and engineering a signal processing
mechanics of biological nanomachines.
workflow is just as important for biophysics
Investigating such small forces used by such small machines means vibrations are an important concern. A door closing in the office
next
door,
an
experiments with optical tweezers as for their larger cousins, the gravitational wave detectors
air-conditioning
system, or a loud noise in the room all could
the ripples in spacetime, aka gravity waves, is of course
potentially contaminate my signal. Therefore the
light. Each instrument is a massive interferometer with
microscope is built on top of an air-cushioned table
each optical arm spanning 4 kilometres. Minute
occupying the better part of the lab, to separate the
changes in path length show up as light or dark as the
instrument from vibrations felt by the building. These
light waves are combined in (light) or out (dark) of
measures
the
sync. A number of clever active and passive vibration-
vibration isolation efforts of a much larger instrument
damping systems, culminating in two millimetre-thin
measuring much smaller phenomena.
glass threads, decrease the influence of environmental
pale,
however,
in
comparison
to
The Advanced Laser Interferometry Gravitational
noise by about 20 orders of magnitude. Putting that in
Observatories (aLIGO) in Hanover, Washington and
perspective, the difference in height between a person
Livingston,
USA
made
and a virus is about 8 orders of magnitude. At the right
upon
their
frequencies, the aLIGO detectors can discern (over the
announcement of a black hole binary merger observed
4km length of the optical cavity) a difference of about 1
in vibrations in spacetime. The ruler used to measure
attometer. But how can one calibrate such a machine?
international
Louisiana, headlines
both last
in
the
year
Enter our good friend radiation pressure. aLIGO is
4
so sensitive that it can detect the minute movements of
These so-called “photon-calibration actuators” are used by the LIGO team to probe the response of the LIGO interferometers and feedback control loops [4]. The various stabilization elements and their control software are designed to keep the system quiet enough to detect gravitational waves, and any real signals that LIGO does detect will be modified by the resulting transfer
function.
Therefore
it's
important
to
understand the transfer function contribution from each subsystem, to learn how the instrument will affect the gravitational wave signals that it measures. These photon actuators can even be used as one of many ways to inject a simulated signal for testing purposes [1]. Interestingly enough, the scientists and engineers analysing the data don't generally know whether that data contains an injected signal. These simulated signals are therefore “blind injections” [2] and it's one way that scientists use to keep themselves honest- by not knowing what's going on. The most famous blind injection signal from LIGO was what OPTICAL TWEEZERS MEASURE THE POSITION OF A TRAPPED (OR "TWEEZED") OBJECT WITH A LASER THAT CREATES AN INTERFERENCE PATTERN ON A PHOTOSENSITIVE DETECTOR. NOT TO SCALE.
became known as the “Big Dog” event during science run S6 (apparently originating from the constellation Canis major) [3]. This event made it all the way
the test masses due to radiation pressure (the effect
through peer review before the data were revealed to
that I use to manipulate microscopic particles). To test
contain a hardware-based blind injection, serving as a
the instrument and its’ ability to observe distance
litmus test for detecting and vetting gravitational wave
changes of less than the size of a protein, an offset
signals.
laser (different than the main laser that splits into two
Several of the early stage researchers working on
interferometer beams) propels photons that bounce off
PHOQUS projects are building tools to take advantage
the test mass mirror. Photons have a minuscule
of radiation pressure to probe the inner workings of
amount of inertial mass, and when they change
life. Optical tweezers don't need to be so sensitive as to
direction the resulting change in momentum has to be
detect a fluttering in spacetime, but calibration and
matched at the mirror, resulting in a tiny force
engineering a signal processing workflow is just as
experienced by the test mass. The large mirrors on the
important for biophysics experiments with optical
end of either cavity at each LIGO instrument tip the
tweezers as for their larger cousins, the gravitational
scales at 20 kg (that's 44 lbs) apiece, about as much as a
wave detectors. As such many of the tools of time-
small child or a large pile of kittens. Your intuition is
frequency analysis used for matching LIGO data with
correct if you expect that an object that massive will
theoretical sources of gravitational waves are very
not move much in response to diverting a flow of light.
similar.
For
example,
I've
recently
used
CONTINUED ON This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 608133
data PAGE 6
5
NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2016 ISSUE 3
processing tutorials from the LIGO Open Science Center as a framework to develop wavelet analysis for optical tweezers experiments. Much like a feedback control loop stabilizing a gravitational wave detector, or stabilizing the force experienced by a protein under study with optical tweezers, the feedback loop from theory to experiment and back again is constantly evolving, richly cross-pollinated across disciplines as diverse as general relativity and single-molecule biophysics.
ARTICLE BY Q. TYRELL DAVIS (PHOQUS FELLOW NO. 6) Further Readings: 1. Karki, S. et al. The Advanced LIGO Photon Calibrators. LIGO Doc. P1500249 (2016). 2. LIGO Scientific Collaboration. Blind Injection Stress-Tests LIGO and VIRGO's Search for Gravitational Waves. 3. LIGO Scientific Collaboration. Data for GW100916. 4. Goetz, E., et al. Precise calibration of LIGO test mass actuators using photon radiation pressure. Class. Quantum Grav 26.245011 (2009): 245011.
PHOQUS Fellow wins Poster Award at MIP2016
M
olecular
imprinting
is
a
relatively
new
chance to have a chat with Prof Günter Wulff, Prof
technology, which was developed about 40
Karsten Haupt, Prof Sergey Piletsky, and Prof Claudio
years ago by Günter Wulff. During the years, the
Baggiani and his team, and attended several very
production of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs),
interesting talks, including one by Prof Kenneth Shea,
also called “plastic antibodies”, has evolved and spread
the pioneer of protein molecular imprinting.
all over the world. Thanks to their properties, MIPs have
acquired
increasing
importance in several fields of scientific research, especially in cancer imaging and therapy. Every
two
years
the
MIP
meeting gathers the very experts of molecular
imprinting
from
any
labs. The 2016 meeting took place from
26-30th
June
in
Lund,
Sweden. The conference started with a talk by Prof Güther Wulff, the father of MIPs. During the meeting,
Alessandra
Cecchini
(PHOQUS fellow no. 4) had the
6
The poster session was particularly stimulating;
FROM LEFT: PROF GÜNTER WULFF (HEINRICH HEINE UNIVERSITY, GERMANY ), MS ALESSANDRA CECCHINI (ESR4, UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, UK), PROF SERGEY PILETSKY (UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER, UK).
Alessandra presented her work to the most outstanding experts of MIPs who, like Prof Shea, invited other researchers to have a look at her work. The overall experience was intense, extremely helpful, a remarkable opportunity for being updated about the main progress in MIP applications and beneficial for networking. Additionally, Alessandra met many researchers who complimented her and found her results obtained so far interesting and complete, and last but not least she won the poster award!
ARTICLE BY ALESSANDRA CECCHINI (PHOQUS FELLOW NO. 4) Poster: MIPs coupled to quantum dots as tools for the detection of tumour angiogenesis in zebrafish by A. Cecchini, V. Raffa, F. Canfarotta, G. Signore, S. Piletsky, M. MacDonald and Alfred Cuschieri.
Biophotonic approaches: From molecules to living systems Conference ...
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE...
Following
a
brief
welcome from Prof. Kees Weijer, co-ordinator of the PHOQUS
programme,
the
event started with a talk on Intravital imaging of drug target engagement from Erik Sahai of the Francis Crick Institute. Talks on the first day
covered
a
range
of
topics from novel imaging techniques in vivo to talks on fundamental beam shaping and adaptive optics techniques. Among many fascinating talks, two highlights were
the
talks
on
Wave
front
shaping
techniques from Monika Ritsch-Marte of the University of Innsbruck and the talk on in-vivo deep imaging from John Girkin of Durham University.
The first day closed with a
conference dinner attended by all of the invited speakers and the PHOQUS fellows. The dinner gave the fellows an opportunity to network with top notch scientists from all over the
CONTINUED ON This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 608133
PAGE 8
7
NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2016 ISSUE 3
Thank you very much for organizing such a great event world on a more informal basis. The second day opened with a talk on
Multidimensional
Fluorescence
Imaging across the scales from Paul French of Imperial College, London. Talks on the
mobile phone to be used as a microscope.
second day covered a range of topics from mechanical
conference program included many long coffee breaks
phenotyping to novel beam shaping techniques. The
to give attendees the chance for dialogue amongst
highlights
fellow scientists. This led to many informative and
included
a
talk
on
high
throughput
mechanical phenotyping via microfluidics from Jochen
helpful
Guck of TU Dresden and a talk on beam shaping
networking experience among top-notch scientists and
techniques to allow microscopy through a single mode
students alike.
fiber from Tomas Cizmar of the University of Dundee. The poster session was held in the afternoon and
and
allowed
for
a
pleasant
Around 90 delegates from the UK and Europe participated in this event and the feedback from the
included posters on a range of topics from novel in-
attendees
vivo
enjoyed the conference and found it very stimulating:
sensors
to
applications
of
various
new
measurement techniques.
and
speakers
indicated
that
everyone
“The conference was very enjoyable and academically
In addition to the talks and posters, the PHOQUS
very profitable”, “Thank you very much for organizing
fellows had a stand demonstrating some of the
such a great event”, “I really enjoyed the two days in
Outreach activities. The demonstration that generated
Dundee and everyone else from my group did as well”.
most interest was PDMS lenses that can be produced at
ARTICLE BY THOMAS RABL (PHOQUS FELLOW NO. 13)
home for a few cents. These lenses allow a standard
8
discussions
The
PHOQUS fellows are (still) reaching out “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” (Carl Sagan) … and all it takes is for someone to show it to the world.
A
nother 6 months have passed, and the ESRs have made significant progress in their research. But sometimes, they removed their laser goggles and lab coats, and took to the streets. Okay, sometimes this
actually involved putting on a lab coat and taking to the streets also involved inside locations. Nevertheless, the ESRs are still organising and participating in public engagement activities and here are some snapshots of the fun!
LEGO CHALLENGE: BUILD A MICROSCOPE! BUILD A SCOPE, LOOK NEAR AND FAR
IN JULY, WE WERE JOINED BY A GROUP OF SUMMER
IN JUNE, A GROUP OF 50 SCHOOL
SCHOOL CHILDREN TO BUILD
CHILDREN LEARNT ABOUT
MICROSCOPES OUT OF
DIFFERENT OPTICAL SYSTEMS:
LEGO.
MICROSCOPES AND TELESCOPES, AT THE MILLS
OBSERVATORY. THE FEEDBACK WAS OVERWHELMINGLY GOOD!
SOAPBOX SCIENCE EDINBURGH ALSO IN JULY, VALERIE BENTIVEGNA (PHOQUS FELLOW NO. 10) BROUGHT HER SCIENCE TO THE STREETS OF EDINBURGH.
SHE STOOD ON A SOAPBOX AND EXPLAINED HOW WE CAN “HEAR”, “FEEL” AND “SEE” COLORECTAL TUMOURS, WITH THE HELP OF VALENTINA FERRO (PHOQUS FELLOW NO. 3) AND BRUNO THE UKULELE.
AND FINALLY… THE PHOQUS “BRIGHT CLUBBERS” CONTINUED TO SHARE THEIR SCIENCE IN A HUMOROUS MANNER AT VARIOUS VENUES!
Don’t miss out, follow our outreach projects on facebook or twitter! @OSISDundee ~ Outer Space Inner Space || @MCAA_Scotland ~ MCAA Scotland Chapter ARTICLE BY VALERIE BENTIVEGNA (PHOQUS FELLOW NO.10) This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 608133
9
NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2016 ISSUE 3
Recent Publications ‘Multimode fibres for micro-endoscopy’, Turtaev, Sergey (ESR2) / Leite, Ivo T. (ESR11) / Čižmár, Tomáš. Optofluidics, Microfluidics and Nanofluidics. Volume 2, Issue 1, Pages 31–35. ‘Polarised light sheet tomography’, Sascha L. Reidt (ESR9), Daniel J. O’Brien (ESR7), Kenneth Wood, and Michael P. MacDonald. Optics Express Vol. 24, Issue 10, pp. 11239-11249 (2016).
Recent Presentations ‘Fluorescent “Plastic Antibodies” as Nanotools for Cancer Imaging in Zebrafish’, A. Cecchini (ESR4), V. Raffa, F. Canfarotta, G. Signore, S. Piletsky, M. MacDonald and A. Cuschieri. 7th International Congress Nanotechnology in Medicine & Biology, Krems, Austria. ‘Non-invasive approach to investigate novel surrogate markers of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk’, S. Smirni (ESR12), M.P. MacDonald, and F. Khan. 66th British Microcirculation Society Annual Meeting, Newcastle, England. 'Holographic optical tweezing via a multimode fibre’, I. Leite (ESR11), S. Turtaev (ESR2), X. Jiang, P. St. J. Russell, and T. Cizmar. SUPA 2016 Annual Gathering, Glasgow, Scotland. ‘High-resolution holographic micro-endoscopy and manipulation’, I. Leite (ESR11), S. Turtaev (ESR2), A. Cuschieri, and T. Čižmár. Highland Spring School on Mesoscopic Physics, Trest, Czech Republic. 'Dark soliton generation from semiconductor optical amplifier gain medium in ring fiber configuration’,S.N. Turtaev (ESR2), M.A. Chernysheva, K.A. Fedorova, A.A. Gorodetsky, E.U. Rafailov. Laser Optics 2016, Saint Petersburg, Russia. ‘MIPs coupled to quantum dots as tools for the detection of tumour angiogenesis in zebrafish’, A. Cecchini (ESR4), V. Raffa, F. Canfarotta, G. Signore, S. Piletsky, M. MacDonald and A. Cuschieri. MIP2016, the 9th International Conference on Molecular Imprinting, Lund, Sweden. 'Light-sheet Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging’, D. J. O’Brien (ESR7). PHOTONEX SCOTLAND, Edinburgh. ‘A multimodal approach to measure mechanical properties of three-dimensional tissue structures over different length scales’, V. Bentivegna (ESR10), Y. Ling, Z. Huang, S. Cochran and I. Näthke. PHOTONEX SCOTLAND, Edinburgh. 'Improved antireflection coated microspheres for biological applications of optical tweezers’, V. Ferro (ESR3), A. Sonnberger, M. K. Abdosamadi, C. McDonald, E. Schäffer, and D. McGloin. SPIE Optics and Photonics, San Diego, USA. ‘Characterisation of Bessel and Gaussian beam illumination modes on LSM imaging quality of early chick embryo development’, R. F. Bango Da Cunha Correia (ESR8), S. L. Reidt (ESR9), A. I. Karjalainen, M. Chuai, M. P. MacDonald and C. J. Weijer. 3rd Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy International Conference (LSFM 2016), Sheffield, UK. Nov 2nd5th 2016 Biophotonics North Conference
Do not miss...
'MIPs coupled to quantum dots as tools for the detection of tumour angiogenesis in zebrafish’, A. Cecchini (ESR4), V. Raffa, F. Canfarotta, G. Signore, S. Piletsky, M. MacDonald and A. Cuschieri. PHOTON16, Leeds, UK. ‘Light-sheet Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging’, D. J. O’Brien (ESR7), A. Endo, N. Krstajic, R. Walker, R. K. Henderson,
St. Andrews, UK
Nov 24st 2016
Edinburgh, UK
Dec 2016 (TBC)
Science of SciFi Seminar #3 MCAA Scotland Chapter
Jan 28th Feb 2nd 2017
SPIE Photonics West 2017 San Francisco, USA
Apr 2nd 5th2017
10
Scottish Microscopy Group 2016 Symposium
OSA Optical Trapping San Diego, USA
A. I. Lamond, and M. P. MacDonald. PHOTON16, Leeds, UK. 'Polarised Light Sheet Tomography’, S. L. Reidt (ESR9), D. J. O’Brien (ESR7), K. Wood and M. P. MacDonald. PHOTON16, Leeds, UK. ‘Combined Optical Flowmetry, Oximetry and Fluorescence measurement of novel markers for vascular dysfunction’, S. Smirni (ESR12), F.Khan, and M.P.MacDonald. PHOTON16, Leeds, UK. 'Tissue optics measurements of novel CVD risk factors’, S. Smirni (ESR12), F. Khan, and M.P. MacDonald. Bi-annual Biophotonics and Imaging Summer School, Galway, Ireland. ‘Simultaneous assessment of skin microcirculation and auto-fluorescence to predict cardiovascular dysfunction’, S. Smirni (ESR12), M.P.MacDonald, F.Khan. IUA SFMV 2016 Congress, Lyon, France. ‘Examining mechanical properties of three-dimensional hollow tissue structures: microultrasound, atomic force microscopy and computational modelling’, V. Bentivegna (ESR10), J. Barkhuisen, J. P. Torralba, I. Schaap, Y. Chen, S. Cochran and I. Näthke. 7th Annual PiCLS Symposium, Dundee, Scotland.
Presentations @ PHOQUS 2016 Conference Biophotonic Approaches: From molecules to living systems ‘Experimental study of optimum repetition rate and pulse duration for multiphoton microscopy at 1030 nm’, S. Mirkhanov (ESR1), A. H. Quarterman, C. JCP Smyth, C. Thomson, P. Appleton, B. B. Praveen, S. Swift, K. G. Wilcox. ‘Accelerating wavefront shaping in complex environment’, S. Turtaev (ESR2), I.T. Leite (ESR11), K. J. Mitchell, D. B. Phillips, M. J. Padgett and T. Cizmar. 'Improved antireflection coated microspheres for biological applications of optical tweezers’, V. Ferro (ESR3), A. Sonnberger, M. K. Abdosamadi, C. McDonald, E. Schäffer, and D. McGloin. ‘Optical manipulation of cells junctions in chick embryos’, V. Ferro (ESR3), M. Chuai, D. McGloin, and Kees Weijer. 'MIPs coupled to quantum dots as tools for the detection of tumour angiogenesis in zebrafish’, A. Cecchini (ESR4), V. Raffa, F. Canfarotta, G. Signore, S. Piletsky, M. MacDonald and A. Cuschieri. ‘Challenges in building a fast scanning Super-Resolution STED microscope’, . Zdankowski (ESR5), J. Swedlow, and D. McGloin. 'Catching the perfect wavelet: multi-resolution signal analysis for biophysics’, Q. Tyrell Davis (ESR6). ‘Light-sheet Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging’, D. J. O’Brien (ESR7), A. Endo, N. Krstajic, R. Walker, R. K. Henderson, A. I. Lamond, and M. P. MacDonald. 'Characterisation of Bessel and Gaussian beam illumination modes on LSM imaging quality of early chick embryo development’, R. F. Bango Da Cunha Correia (ESR8), S. L. Reidt (ESR9), A. I. Karjalainen, M. Chuai, M. P. MacDonald and C. J. Weijer. ‘Polarised Light Sheet Tomography’, S. L. Reidt (ESR9), D. J. O’Brien (ESR7), K. Wood and M. P. MacDonald. B 'A tumour associated APC fragment changes the response of MDCK cells to compression’, V. Bentivegna (ESR10), S. Cochran, and I. Näthke. ‘Advanced biophotonics down a single fibre’, I. T. Leite (ESR11), S. Turtaev (ESR2), X. Jiang, Philip St. J. Russell and T. Čižmár. 'Combined Optical Flowmetry, Oximetry and Fluorescence measurement of novel markers for vascular dysfunction’, S. Smirni (ESR12), F. Khan, and M.P. MacDonald. ‘Using Raman spectroscopy for the detection of drug concentrations inside of cells’,T. Rabl (ESR13), S. Corsetti, L. Ellis, D. McGloin and K. Read. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 608133
11
Associated Partners
ABOUT PHOQUS
P
HOQUS is funded by the EU's FP7 Marie Curie Innovative Doctoral Programme to train 13 early
stage researchers as interdisciplinary scientists at the interface between Physics/Photonics, Medicine and Life Sciences. The fellows are primarily based at the University of Dundee in Scotland however they also have access to academic and commercial expertise and training provided by academic and industrial and partners from across Europe. Specific aims of PHOQUS are to • Train a new generation of exceptional scientists in the life and physical sciences, without the historic barriers that have existed between these disciplines • Develop new photonics tools that will feed into the design and development of smaller, more cost effective instruments • Use these new tools to investigate the cellular and molecular dynamics which drive the process of cell division • Use newly developed imaging techniques to investigate the role of cell behaviours during embryonic development and disease. Project Duration: 1st November 2013 – 31st October 2017
FULL INFORMATION ON ALL ASSOCIATED PARTNERS CAN BE FOUND ON THE PHOQUS WEB SITE.
For comments and suggestions, email us at PHOQUS@dundee.ac.uk This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 608133
NEWLETTER DESIGN BY VALENTINA FERRO (PHOQUS FELLOW NO. 3)