For further information please contact Jade Sturdy.
Group Members
Todd Fallesen
Todd is a principal bioimage analyst in the light microscopy team at The Francis Crick Institute. Following a BS in physics at St Lawrence University, he did a PhD in Physics at Wake Forest University, specializing in magnetic trapping of motor proteins. He joined Thomas Surrey at CRUK in London as a postdoc using optical trapping to study motor proteins, before joining the light microscopy team at the Crick. He has done work at Imperial College London where he specialized in light sheet microscopy of plant roots. He also spent a semester teaching undergraduate Astrobiology at New York University (London Campus). He’s a Chartered Scientist through the Institute of Physics, and frequently teaches courses in Image Analysis at the Crick.
Rik Brydson
Rik holds a chair in the Institute for Materials Research (IMR) in the School of Process Environmental and Materials Engineering at the University of Leeds. He heads the NanoCharacterisation group based around the Leeds Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopy (LEMAS) centre which is shared between Materials and Earth Sciences and also acts as an EPSRC facility for external UK researchers. He has a general research interest in high spatial resolution chemical analysis in nanostructured materials, and has a current research h index of 32 with over 25 years research experience in nanomaterials characterisation. He has managed extensive national and international collaborations including being current consortium leader for the UK National Facility for Aberration corrected Electron Microscopy, SuperSTEM at Daresbury.
Rik is also on the Management Board of the European Microscopy Society. He has written an RMS Handbook on Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (Bios /Taylor and Francis 2001), has co-written a book on “Nanoscale Science and Technology" (Wiley 2005), edited a recent RMS book on Analytical Aberration-corrected Transmission Electron Microscopy with Wiley and has contributed a number of other chapters in specialist books on electron microscopy by other professional bodies covering Physics, Chemistry and Engineering. In recent years his research interests have focused on applying high spatial resolution characterisation methods (particularly TEM and EELS) to the nanochemical analysis of softer, more radiation sensitive materials.
Michelle Peckham
Michelle is Professor of Cell Biology in the Faculty of Biological Sciences. She obtained a BA in Physiology of Organisms at the University of York, and a PhD in Physiology at University College London. She moved to King's College London, and started to use a specialised form of light microscopy (birefringence) to investigate muscle crossbridge orientation. She then worked at UCSF, San Francisco for a year, where she used fluorescence polarisation to investigate muscle crossbridges. She moved back to the UK, to the University of York, to work on insect flight muscle. In 1990 she was awarded a Royal Society University Research fellowship, based at King's College London, and began working on the cell and molecular biology of muscle development, and started to use live cell imaging to investigate muscle cell behaviour in cultured cells, and confocal microscopy to investigate their cytoskeleton. She collaborated with Graham Dunn to use Digitally Recorded Interference Microscopy with Automatic Phase Shifting (DRIMAPS) to investigate cell crawling behaviour. She moved to Leeds in 1997 as a Lecturer, and has continued to use a wide range of both light and electron microscopy approaches to investigate the molecular motors and the cytoskeleton.
Peter O'Toole
Peter heads the Imaging and Cytometry Labs within the Technology Facility at the University of York which includes an array of confocal microscopes, flow cytometers and electron microscopes. Peter gained his PhD in the Cell Biophysics Laboratory at the University of Essex and has been involved in many aspects of fluorescence imaging. Research is currently focused on both technology and method development of novel probes and imaging modalities.
Peter has ongoing collaborations with many leading microscopy and cytometry companies and his group also provides research support to many academics and commercial organisations. Peter is also heavily involved with teaching microscopy and flow cytometry which includes organising and teaching on both the RMS Light Microscopy Summer School and the RMS Practical Flow Cytometry courses.
Maddy Parsons
Maddy is Professor of Cell Biology at King’s College London. Maddy completed her PhD in Biochemistry within the Department of Medicine at University College London in 2000. During her PhD she analysed the role of mechanical forces in dermal scarring. She then moved to Cancer Research UK laboratories in London for a 4-year postdoctoral position where she used advanced microscopy techniques including FRET/FLIM to dissect adhesion receptor signaling to the actin cytoskeleton and how this controlled directed cell invasion. Based on these achievements, Maddy was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in 2005 to establish her own group within the Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics at King’s College London.
Following completion of her fellowship, Maddy was appointed Reader at King’s in 2013 and Professor of Cell Biology in 2015. Maddy has established collaborations with developmental biologists and clinical researchers to study adhesion receptor signalling in skin blistering, wound healing, inflammation and cancer. She works closely with physicists, biophysicists and other world-leading cell migration groups in the field to develop and apply new imaging technologies to dissect spatiotemporal cytoskeletal signalling events in live cells, tissues and whole organisms. As a result of her interest and applications of advanced microscopy, Maddy developed a strong working partnership with Nikon, which subsequently led to the establishment of the state-of-the-art, world-class Nikon Imaging Centre at King’s College London of which she is Director. Maddy also currently works alongside other biotech and pharmaceutical companies to develop and apply advanced imaging approaches to basic mechanisms that underpin drug discovery.
Kerry Thompson
Kerry is a Lecturer in Anatomy at the University of Galway since 2017. She is the Programme Director for the newly established MSc in Microscopy & Imaging at Galway. In 2010 she was awarded her PhD for a microscopy heavy research project which focused on structure function relations in the human endometrium. In 2011 she began work as a Postdoctoral Microscopy Facility Scientist in the Centre for Microscopy and Imaging (CMI) in Galway and was a key member in its establishment.
In the 2014/2015 academic year Kerry acted as a project lead in the “Under the Microscope” Programme, which brought the Microscope Activity Kits from the RMS into Irish Primary Schools for the first time. Following this Kerry was elected on the Outreach & Education Committee of the RMS. With the support of both the RMS and the Microscopy Society of Ireland, the team continue to visit schools all over Ireland and partake in outreach events. In 2018 she succeed Prof Susan Anderson as the Honorary Secretary of Outreach and Education of the RMS. Her current research is focused on the development of correlative light and advanced electron microscopy techniques and technologies. She is keenly involved in the acquisition of microscopy related research infrastructure, and the development of adequate training and career progression pathways for Imaging Scientists and Core Facility Staff.
Susan Anderson
Susan has been involved in microscopy for over 20 years. She established and led the Advanced Microscopy Unit at the University of Nottingham for ten years and is especially interested in electron microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy and correlative microscopy. Susan joined the RMS Materials Science Section in 2006 and helped to organise several symposia on the use of microscopy in biomaterials and tissue engineering.
Susan was delighted to be invited to be the Honorary Secretary Education in 2009 and she established a Committee of talented and enthusiastic microscopists and educationalists to drive forward the strategy of the newly established Outreach & Education Committee. Susan has been involved in Education for many years. She has been a volunteer at her local primary school and has encouraged many primary and secondary school visits to the Advanced Microscopy Unit over the years. In addition, she is involved with a creative science programme which encourages creativity in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) in a space managed by and for young people. Through this Susan has been lucky to be involved in working with many primary and secondary schools to improve science provision.
Alex Ball
Alex is the Head of Imaging and Analysis in the Core Research Laboratories at the Natural History Museum. He has over 25 years' experience in light and electron microscopy and has published research involving transmission and scanning electron microscopy, confocal microscopy and micro-CT. His PhD research involved the use of LM, SEM and SEM combined with computer-aided 3D reconstruction. Now his interests focus on non-destructive imaging and analysis of natural and cultural heritage samples. Over the course of his career Alex has had the good fortune to be tasked with setting up the NHM's micro-CT laboratory and more recently the 3D surface scanning facilities where our first job was to 3D scan an entire blue whale skeleton! He has a keen interest in outreach and education and has led the NHM's imaging activities at the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival for over ten years and routinely participates in the NHM's public outreach events.
Sean Collins
Sean is an Associate Professor in Data-Driven Characterisation of Materials in the Department of Materials, Imperial College London. Sean started his research group at the University of Leeds (2019-2025). Sean is interested in the effects of structural and chemical disorder, with a longstanding interest also in optical properties of materials. Sean specialises in analytical electron microscopy, with recent work focusing on developing ways to apply scanning transmission electron microscopy, spectroscopy, diffraction, and tomography to unravel how microscopic structure determines function in molecular materials.
Georgina Fletcher
Georgina is the Project Officer for the community network BioImagingUK, an open organisation of UK scientists that develop, use, or administer imaging solutions for life science research.
Contact Georgina for BioImagingUK enquiries.
georgina@rms.org.uk
+44 (0) 1865 254777
Robert Harniman
Dr Robert Harniman is focussed on harnessing the interdisciplinary relevance of scanning probe microscopy and has been active in the development and utilisation of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and associated techniques since 2007. After exploring the hydrogen bonding of R6 peptides in a Nuffield grant Robert joined the group of Prof. M Miles FRS in 2008. Here he designed and built the world’s first high-speed non-contact vertically oriented probe (VOP) microscope, achieving remarkable resolution imaging molecular ultra-structure. Having applied the technique to synthetic self-assembly and electro-chemistry Robert utilised the unique balance of sensitivity and control in VOP microscopy in the world-first direct measurement of the spin-momentum of photons, proving the existence of a fundamental quantum force. In 2012 Dr Harniman took charge of the AFM facility at the University of Bristol. Here Robert has driven AFM as an interdisciplinary platform, collaborating across Chemistry, Physics, Earth Sciences, Medical Sciences, and the Faculties of Life Sciences and Engineering. From identifying electron emission sites in diamond electrodes, enhanced photovoltaics, and cellulose nano-crystal reinforcement, to the effect of actin expansion of the nucleus during mitosis, the development of synthetic proto-tissues, and the effect of changes in gravity on cartilage, his investigations are varied and far-reaching.
In 2023 Dr Harniman received the Vice President’s award from the RMS in acknowledgement of his contributions to his field and others. He has since secured funding through the BBSRC-Alert 2023 to build an AFM technology platform of his own design. The system provides holistic characterisation with direct correlation, of AFM with high-resolution fluorescence optical microscopy, Raman spectral chemical analysis and nano-injection/manipulation measuring material properties over length scales from single biomolecules to tissue, all in biologically relevant environments.
As Technical Research Director at the University of Bristol Robert champions the importance of technicians, research technical professionals and skilled experts, and their vital contributions to the fabric of UK research and innovation.
Dr Harniman “I fervently believe that microscopy, as a field, is a truly interdisciplinary environment which provides an accessible gateway to all forms of science.”
Philip Hobson
Phil Hobson is the Deputy Manager of the Flow Cytometry Science Technology Platform at the Francis Crick Institute, London. Following a PhD in Immunology and post doctoral positions at both Imperial College London and Kings College London, he joined the flow facility at the National Institute of Medical Research during the merger to form the Francis Crick Institute. Within the Crick he has developed interests in high containment sorting and health and safety. Due to his responsibilities with the mass cytometry suite, he is interested in high dimensional data analysis of both flow cytometry and imaging data sets.
Lynne Joyce
Prior to retiring in 2014 Dr Lynne Joyce was Director of Market Development at Agar Scientific. Lynne graduated with a BA in Biology from the University of York and was awarded her PhD in Plant Sciences from the University of Newcastle. Her first position was with the Lord Rank Research Centre (Rank Hovis McDougall) in High Wycombe where she worked initially on the wheat breeding program and then trained in the electron microscopy unit with Roger Angold. In 1982 she joined Agar Aids (now Agar Scientific) to work with company-founder Alan Agar and was soon appointed Sales Director and then later in 1992 Managing Director, a position she held until 2008.
Lynne became a member of the RMS in 1987 and was invited to join the Trade Advisory Committee (now known as the Corporate Advisory Board) in 1992, where she was an active member until her retirement. Lynne first term as Honorary Treasurer began in 1995 and ran for 10 years (the maximum term permitted).
Alex Laude
Alessandro Di Maio
Alessandro is a cell biologist with an extensive experience in imaging and microscopy (both light and electron). He received his Ph.D. in Cell Biology in 2009 from the NFS Institute (Japan) joint with the University of Pennsylvania (USA) under the supervision of Prof. Clara Franzini-Armstrong working on ultrastructural and functional aspects of Cardiomyocytes. After that, he got his first postdoctoral appointment the Drexel Medical School (USA) working on in vivo neuronal regeneration with Prof. Y.J. Sun. Subsequently, he got a NIH-funded postdoctoral fellowship at UC Santa Barbara (USA) with Prof. A. DeTomaso working on vascular regeneration and stem cell biology. In 2014, after a successful academic career oversea, Alessandro moved to the University of Birmingham as light microscopy facility manager first at the College of Life and Environmental Science (2014-2021) and later at the College of Medical and Dental Sciences where now is the Senior Microscopy Specialist at Technology Hub Microscopy Facility. He currently provides a multidisciplinary scientific support in microscopy science to the academic and non-academic community within the University of Birmingham.
Stefania Marcotti
Stefania is a postdoc and bioimage analyst at King's College London. After a BSc and an MSc in biomechanical engineering in Milan, she obtained a PhD at the University of Sheffield focused on the mechanical characterisation of bone cells with atomic force microscopy and finite element modelling. Thanks to the possibility of combining both experimental and computational approaches in all of her projects, she developed an interest in data and image quantitative analysis. In 2018 she joined Brian Stramer's group and her current research interest lies in developing and automating analysis pipelines for biological applications. Since 2023, she also offers image analysis support to the Nikon Imaging Centre and Microscopy Innovation Centre users at KCL.
Claire Mitchell
Claire is a Principal Scientific Officer working in the Beatson Advanced Imaging Resource imaging facility, part of the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in Glasgow. Claire completed her PhD in Biophotonics in St Andrews, focussed on using ultrafast lasers for cellular manipulation. She then worked on building multiphoton microscopes before moving into a core facility role. Over the last decade, Claire has gained expertise in nearly every type of light microscopy technique but specialises in multiphoton and light sheet. She is also passionate about light microscopy education and reproducibility to improve the quality of microscopy-based research.
Ferran Valderrama
Ferran is a cell biologist with research interest in cell polarity and migration in the physiological context of cancers of epithelial origin (particularly prostate cancer). Our laboratory has been developing 3D cell culture models aiming to recapitulate the early events observed in the glandular structures of the prostate that lead to prostate cancer. Using epifluorescence and confocal microscopy in live and fix specimens we aim to understand how changes in cell polarity and cell migration lead to early disruption of the epithelial organization of the glands (intraepithelial neoplasia) and subsequent proliferation and migration towards the lumen (intraluminal proliferation). We believe that cytoskeleton-adaptor proteins, such as the Ezrin-Radixin-Moesin family, may have an important role in controlling these processes. Since 2013, Ferran is also the academic director of the Image Resource Facility at St George’s University that holds a light microscopy section including widefield, confocal and light-sheet imaging systems as well as an electron microscopy section.
Ann Wheeler
Ann is a cell biologist and the ESRIC facility manager at the Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh. Ann has expertise in advanced light microscopy in particular in Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM) and Single Molecule Localisation Super-resolution microscopy (SMLM) as well as quantitative image analysis. Ann works with collaborators in the generation of new methods and methodologies for visualising structures by super-resolution.