Scottish physicist and professor
Gail McConnell FRSE FInstP FRMS (born 25 August 1976[ 2] [ 3] ) is a Scottish physicist who is Professor of Physics and director of the Centre for Biophotonics at the University of Strathclyde .[ 4] She is interested in optical microscopy and novel imaging techniques, and leads the Mesolens microscope facility where her research investigates linear and non-linear optics .[ 5] [ 6]
Early life and education
McConnell credits her high school physics teacher with her inspiration to study science.[ 7] She studied optoelectronics and laser physics at the University of Strathclyde , where she was taught by Carol Trager-Cowan .[ 8] [ 9] She remained there for her graduate studies, earning a PhD in laser technology under the supervision of Allister Ferguson in 2002.[ 1] [ 8] She was the first member of her family to go to university.[ 10]
Career and research
McConnell almost worked in telecommunications , but was convinced by Ferguson to join Strathclyde's new Centre for Biophotonics.[ 10] [ 11] She became interested in biomedical research and increasingly aware of the limitations of commercial imaging.[ 11] Here she worked with Alison Gurney on the development of confocal, multi-photon wide-field microscopes.[ 10] Gurney encouraged McConnell to apply for fellowships, and she was a Royal Society of Edinburgh and Research Councils UK (RCUK) postdoctoral fellow .[ 8] She developed the world's first white light supercontinuum laser that could be used for confocal microscopy , as well as laser scanning fluorescence microscopy .[ 12] [ 13] She attended the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Practical Course in Advanced Optical Microscopy in Plymouth , which she has continued to support throughout her academic career.[ 10]
McConnell directs the Centre for Biophotonics and Mesolens laboratory at the University of Strathclyde,[ 14] working on nonlinear and linear optical instrumentation for biomedical imaging.[ 15] Nonlinear optics allows physicists precise control of excitation parameters, including the chance to tune the duration of laser pules.[ 16]
In 2009, McConnell began working with William Bradshaw Amos and built a new lens, Mesolens , that can allow 3D imaging with a depth resolution of a few microns for objects up to 6 mm wide and 3 mm thick.[ 17] [ 18] The Mesolens is a giant optical microscope objective supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC).[ 14] It can be used to image large biomedical specimens, including embryos, tumours and areas in brain, as well as scanning large areas of samples in a short amount of time.[ 17] [ 18] [ 19] The lens has 260 megapixal effective camera and a magic ratio of 8:1, which can even resolve individual bacteria.[ 11] [ 20] As the photometric volume can sample such a large area with sub-cellular detail, the Mesolens may allow for the imaging of rare events.[ 20] Mesolens became a University spin-off , but McConnell decided to stay in academia to explore the physics of biomedical processes.[ 11] The Mesolens generates such large amounts of data that McConnell became interested in computational biology .[ 11] The Mesolens was selected by Physics World as one of the top achievements of 2016.[ 21] She discussed the Mesolens on the podcast Not Exactly Rocket Science .[ 22]
Alongside the Mesolens , McConnell has explored how laser sources can be used to open voltage-gated ion channels , such as Calcium-activated potassium channels .[ 23] She has developed a fast-acquisition version of two-photon excitation microscopy that can be used to image at rates of 100 frames/second.[ 24] She created polymer hydrogel beads that are responsive to enzymes.[ 25] She is working with the Medical Research Scotland to create high brightness light-emitting diodes .[ 26]
In May 2012, she was appointed Professor and Director of the Centre for Biophotonics at the University of Strathclyde .[ 10] She leads the Strathclyde Theme of Physics and Life Sciences and is part of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Doctoral Training in Optical Medical Imaging.[ 27]
Awards and honours
In recognition of her work, McConnell was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) in 2010,[ 28] a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) in 2019[ 29] and a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society [when? ] (FRMS).[ 30] [ 31] [ 32] [ 33]
References
^ a b McConnell, Gail (2002). Nonlinear optical frequency conversion of mode-locked all-solid-state lasers . jisc.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Strathclyde. OCLC 59348545 . EThOS uk.bl.ethos.248368 .
^ Gail McConnell [@gailmcconnell] (30 August 2016). "Nothing says 'happy birthday, valued friend & colleague' like a poo cushion & a bottle of gin. They know me well .pic.twitter.com/PnZqUtw7Ay" (Tweet ) – via Twitter .
^ Gail McConnell [@gailmcconnell] (25 August 2016). "Thanks a'body for your birthday wishes and messages. Had a great day!" (Tweet ) – via Twitter .
^ McConnell, Gail (2004). "Confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy with a visible continuum source" . Optics Express . 12 (13): 2844– 50. Bibcode :2004OExpr..12.2844M . doi :10.1364/OPEX.12.002844 . ISSN 1094-4087 . PMID 19483798 .
^ Gail McConnell publications from Europe PubMed Central
^ Gail McConnell publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
^ Pettorelli, Nathalie (6 June 2015). "A different kind of cool: Meet Gail McConnell" . SoapboxScience . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ a b c "Gail McConnell" . Oxford Biomedical Imaging Network. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ "Tributes" . osa.org . Optical Society of America . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ a b c d e "#Womeninscience: Professor Gail McConnell" . scientifica.uk.com . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ a b c d e "» A gateway to the biological world" . live.iop-pp01.agh.sleek.net . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ McConnell, Gail (2004). "Confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy with a visible continuum source" . Optics Express . 12 (13): 2844– 50. Bibcode :2004OExpr..12.2844M . doi :10.1364/opex.12.002844 . ISSN 1094-4087 . PMID 19483798 .
^ Riis, Erling; McConnell, Gail (2004). "Two-photon laser scanning fluorescence microscopy using photonic crystal fiber" (PDF) . Journal of Biomedical Optics . 9 (5): 922– 928. Bibcode :2004JBO.....9..922M . doi :10.1117/1.1778734 . ISSN 1083-3668 . PMID 15447012 .
^ a b "Mesolab | Optical Mesoscopy at the University of Strathclyde" . strathclydemesolab.com . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ "Programme :: elmi2018" . elmi2018.eu . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ "Lasers in medicine and biophotonics: Gail McConnell - The Association of Industrial Laser Users" . ailu.org.uk . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ a b McConnell, Gail; Trägårdh, Johanna; Amor, Rumelo; Dempster, John; Reid, Es; Amos, William Bradshaw (2016). Bronner, Marianne E (ed.). "A novel optical microscope for imaging large embryos and tissue volumes with sub-cellular resolution throughout" . eLife . 5 : e18659. doi :10.7554/eLife.18659 . ISSN 2050-084X . PMC 5035146 . PMID 27661778 .
^ a b "Mesolens Ltd | Mesolens microscope" . mesolens.com . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ "Mesoscope: a novel instrument for imaging microscopic detail in a huge volume of tissue" (PDF) . BPS . Retrieved 9 March 2019 .
^ a b Society, Microbiology. "Can the Mesolens help the microbiologist?" . microbiologysociety.org . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ Woollaston, Victoria (12 December 2016). "Gravitational waves discovery wins Breakthrough of the Year award" . wired.co.uk . ISSN 1357-0978 . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ "Gail McConnell" . spreaker.com . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ "The lighter touch: minimally-invasive optical modulation of Ca2+-activated K+ ion channels" . ukri.org . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ "Multi-photon microscopy without scanning for faster than video-rate fluorescence imaging of live cells" . ukri.org . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ Ulijn, Rein V.; McConnell, Gail; Thornton, Paul D. (2005). "Enzyme responsive polymer hydrogel beads". Chemical Communications (47): 5913– 5915. doi :10.1039/B511005J . ISSN 1364-548X . PMID 16317473 .
^ "Applications of high-brightness 280nm light emitting diodes in biomedical optical imaging" . pureportal.strath.ac.uk . University of Strathclyde. Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ "Supervisors OPTIMA" . optima-cdt.ac.uk . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ "Interactions" (PDF) . Institute of Physics . February 2010. p. 3. Retrieved 27 June 2019 .
^ "Professor Gail McConnell FRSE" . The Royal Society of Edinburgh . 15 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019 .
^ "Interactions: The Newspaper of the Physics Community" (PDF) . iop.org . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ "Light Microscopy" . rms.org.uk . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ "Seven new Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows for Strathclyde | University of Strathclyde" . strath.ac.uk . Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
^ Katasha. "Seven new RSE fellows for Strathclyde" . glasgowcityofscienceandinnovation.com . Glasgow City of Science and Innovation. Retrieved 10 March 2019 .
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