Highly specific multiplexed RNA imaging in tissues with split-FISH

My background in microscopy is built from my work and studies while at Queen's University Belfast. I always had a keen interest in bacteria and viruses as pathogens, as well as how we may exploit them for our benefit, so naturally specialised in microbiology. After my BSc (Hons) in 1999, I went on to do my PhD in microbiology within the School of Biology and Biochemistry at the Medical Biology Centre at Queens. My PhD was focused on polyphosphate metabolism of microorganisms- trying to get a better understanding of this molecule, how to quantify it, and the key roles this played within environmental and pathogenic bacteria. Roles include as a protective function in response to stress and in helping pathogens establish infections. An interesting application of this was in biological phosphate removal from wastewater for which we had a pilot scale study. This then led on to a Research Fellow position in the same research group of John Quinn and John McGrath in 2002. While in this position I worked further on connecting the biochemistry and genetics of polyphosphate metabolism. This included studies to characterise the bacterial transport systems involved and development of novel research tools, such as fluorescent assays to determine intracellular pH, and how to apply our luminescence and fluorescence imaging based methods to 96 well plate formats for faster screening and analysis. After Academia, I went on to work in the Medical Diagnostics and Pharmaceutical industries. I joined Andor Technology in 2012, initially working as a Technical Author for our camera and systems products. My current role is a Product Specialist for microscopy cameras. This role brings me in touch with the latest developments in camera technology, as well as a broad range of microscopy applications and techniques.