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Gail McConnell

@gailmcconnell.bsky.social
2.5K followers 2.4K following 37 posts

Professor of Biophotonics at the University of Strathclyde. Develops new optical microscope & Mesolens instrumentation & methods for biomedical imaging 🔬

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Reposted by Gail McConnell
Liz Hinde @lizhinde.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Focus on Microscopy #FOM2026 @gailmcconnell.bsky.social @labpresse.bsky.social @retof.bsky.social
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Reposted by Gail McConnell
Suzie Humphrey @suzieh.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
🚨PhD studentship alert! Join @gailmcconnell.bsky.social, @liam-rooney.bsky.social and I for an exciting imaging project characterising inter-species interactions in the oral microbiome. Details here: www.centreforbiophotonics.com/oralmicrobio... Application deadline 10th April 2026!
centreforbiophotonics.com
Oral microbiome | Centre For Biophoton
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
🚨🚨🚨 Deadline for applications to the Strathclyde Optical Microscopy Course @unistrathclyde.bsky.social extended to 30 January 2026! Details on how to apply are below 🔬 #microscope #ECRchat #Glasgow
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Hannah Heil @hannah-superres.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
🛑 ⚠️ Registration Deadline: December 12th! ⚠️ Don’t miss your chance to join! 🔬👷‍♀️🛠️ You'll need a Motivation Letter, CV, and a Reference Letter 📝 👉 Course details & registration: meetings.embo.org/event/26-mic... #Microscopy #OpenScience #Bioimaging #EMBOmicroscope
meetings.embo.org
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Julia Sero @cellmorphosero.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
I can highly recommend! Excellent value. :)
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
If you know them, first name terms is most likely appropriate. (It’s hard not to overthink this sometimes!)
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Reposted by Gail McConnell
Nektarios (Nek) Valous @nekvalous.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
@mirandalynchphd.bsky.social, Dirk Jäger, and I are organizing the @amermathsoc.bsky.social special session on Computational Biomedicine: New Frontiers in Methods and Applications at the @jointmath.bsky.social with exceptional speakers from mathematics, biology, and medicine.
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Thank you for sharing!
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Yes! We cover lasers for linear and nonlinear microscopy, and multi-photon microscopy (harmonic generation and fluorescence, including fluorescent label design for 2P imaging) 🔬
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Thanks Sam! I share course organisation with @liam-rooney.bsky.social, @shannanfoylan.bsky.social and Brad Amos, and there are many student demonstrators. If was the only person involved there would be no course!
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Sponsorship opportunities are still available - if you would like to support the course please get in touch!
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
We are grateful for sponsorship from a growing list of companies including 3i, @albascientific.bsky.social, Evident, Nikon, Northern Light Microscopy, Photon Lines, Laser 2000, and Sartorius, as well as the RMS and SULSA.
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
We are limited to 20 participants, and, thanks to generous support from our sponsors, we have been able to keep costs as low as possible so that we may admit participants on need, rather than their ability to pay.
shorturl.at
Apply | SOMC 2026
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
The course is designed for PhD students, early career researchers, newly independent group leaders, research technical professionals, and imaging facility managers who are using light microscopes in their work and who wish to upskill in practical optical imaging. No previous experience necessary.
shorturl.at
Apply | SOMC 2026
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
We are delighted to announce the Strathclyde Optical Microscopy Course 2026 (SOMC26), taking place in Glasgow from 21st July – 30th July 2026! Please find more details at shorturl.at/xmUiZ and apply at shorturl.at/MxTlI. Deadline 16 January 2026.
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Physghoul 👻 🎃 @physgal.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Dear Physicists and Physics fans, I would like to encourage you to celebrate #WomenInPhysics Day this Friday, November 7th. Why November 7th? Because it is the birthday of two of the most impactful women physicists of the 1900's: Marie Curie and Lise Meitner. 🎢 ⚛️ 🧪 👩‍🔬
WOMEN IN PHYSICS DAY! 

In honor of the pioneering women in physics who broke down barriers to do what they love, we celebrate Women in Physics Day on November 7th, the birthdate of both Marie Curie and Lise Meitner.

Marie Skrodowska-Curie (1867-1934)

Radioactivity pioneer, two-time Nobel laureate 

A giant of science, Marie Sktodowska-Curie conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, a term she coined. She discovered two elements, founded two medical research centres, won two Nobels, and invented mobile X-ray units (dubbed petites Curies), saving countless lives in World War 

Lise Meitner (1878-1968) Nuclear physicist

When Lise Meitner was a teen, Austria restricted female higher education. She pursued physics anyway, and 25 years later became the first woman in Germany to hold a professorship in physics. She helped discover nuclear fission, but was contentiously not awarded the 1944 Nobel alongside collaborator Otto Hahn.

NOVEMBER 7TH
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bioRxiv Biophysics @biorxiv-biophys.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Low-Cost 3D Printed Optics for Super-Resolution Multifocal Structured Illumination Microscopy www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…
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Susan Cox @micoxscopy.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
How do you quantify cell structures which are deformed between different observations? Our preprint shows how to perform Simultaneous QUAntification of Structure and Structural Heterogeneity (SQUASSH) on 3D fluorescence microscopy data. (1/5) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Extracting biological structure and heterogeneity from the nano to the macro scale
Fluorescence microscopy is an essential tool in biology. It has revealed great variability at multiple scales, in macromolecular complexes, cells, and organisms. Understanding this variability will re...
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Sarah Lecinski @sarahlecinski.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
A huge thank you to the #SOMC25 organisers! I have enjoyed the lectures, the discussions, and seeing so many systems in action. It has pushed my knowledge of optical microscopy beyond expectations. (Plus the image prize!) I had a fantastic time!💫
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Liam Rooney @liam-rooney.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
After 10 packed days of optical microscopy theory & practicals, #SOMC25 is over! 🌍 24 students from around the world 🧑‍🏫 19 internationally renowned lecturers 🧑‍🔧 16 supportive sponsors 🔬 14 hands-on advanced practical sessions 🏆 4 poster & image prizes 🪼 1 field trip to collect marine specimens
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
A coffee and a lecture from @superresolusian.bsky.social at the Strathclyde Optical Microscopy Course is one of my happy places #SOMC25
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Liam Rooney @liam-rooney.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
TY! @albascientific.bsky.social @the.3i.social @zeiss-microscopy.bsky.social @hamamatsucorp.bsky.social @instituteofphysics.bsky.social @picoquant.bsky.social @royalmicrosoc.bsky.social @tomocube.bsky.social @biologists.bsky.social Nikon Evident NorthernLightMicroscopy PhotonLines PhotonicSolutions
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Liam Rooney @liam-rooney.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
Our final activity of #SOMC25 Day 4 is an image analysis lecture and workshop led by @beatricebo.bsky.social from the Cancer Research Scotland Institute.
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Katherine Paine @katherinepaine.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
Great first week at #SOMC25, learning microscopy basics through lectures and practicals. We spent today collecting samples on the Isle of Cumbrae ready for week 2!
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Reposted by Gail McConnell
Liam Rooney @liam-rooney.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
Field trip day at #SOMC25 - we took a trip to the Isle of Cumbrae to collect specimens to image for the rest of the course. Tide pooling, beach combing, diatom netting, copepod fishing, crustacean hunting, and jelly junking. 🌊🪼🦀
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Liam Rooney @liam-rooney.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Day 2 of #SOMC25 kicks off with Lecture 1 from Brad Amos with an Overview of Optical Microscopy. Starting with the question: does the microscopist need to understand physics?
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Liam Rooney @liam-rooney.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Day 2 Lecture 2 of #SOMC25 delivered by David McKee (@physicsstrath.bsky.social) on Ray and Wave Optics. 🌈🔬
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Liam Rooney @liam-rooney.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Rounding off the day with Lecture 3 of #SOMC25 with Polarisation, Interference and Diffraction delivered by @muellenbroich.bsky.social, featuring sunglasses-adorned Brewster and a young(er) @ralfmbauer.bsky.social.
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Liam Rooney @liam-rooney.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
The Strathclyde Optical Micoscopy Course #SOMC25 kicked off today - 10 days of practical light microscopy training with 24 students from around the world! From fundamental & advanced lectures, to hands-on workshops with high end systems, & a field trip to the Isle of Cumbrae, it will be great! 🔬
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Thanks for the reminder @janemunday.bsky.social. Every summer, I repost this article DROWNING DOES NOT LOOK LIKE DROWNING. To date, I know of FOUR kids who were saved after someone who'd clicked on the link learnt how to spot actual drowning. Take time to read and pass on. slate.com/technology/2...
slate.com
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect.
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Reposted by Gail McConnell
Séamus Holden 🔬🦠🧫 @seamusholden.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Update: David Roberts, postdoc in my lab, tested the GraceBio GeneFrame substitute. A few quirks but extremely promising. Good: B. subtilis cells grew quite happily in overnight time lapse. Growth rate comparison to GeneFrames not done yet but in the works.
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Improved contrast transmission stereomicroscopy using a low-cost 3D printed optical element! 🔬🧫🐟🧅 More details in our preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Liam Rooney @liam-rooney.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
🚨New pre-print out now!🚨 We 3D printed a large optical element that enhanced the illumination, contrast & image quality in transmission stereomicroscopy. This simple addition to the illumination path lets us detect refractive structures & dynamics unobserved by conventional stereomicroscopy. (1/5)
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
This session has been one of the best attended and most scientifically diverse at previous mmc events - promote your most exciting, hot-out-of-the-lab results by submitting an abstract today! @royalmicrosoc.bsky.social @rmsearlycareer.bsky.social
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Professor Andrew J Roe @drandyjroe.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
New paper from the group - here we show that aurodox prevents shiga toxin mediated damage in a murine model. Interesting changes to the microbiota too. Amazing work by @rebeccamchugh.bsky.social and the group. Paper here- rdcu.be/efW0K
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Reposted by Gail McConnell
Séamus Holden 🔬🦠🧫 @seamusholden.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Fellow bacterial cell biologists, message me if you use @thermofishersci.bsky.social Gene Frames for microscopy! Thermo are planning to discontinue these in September but have indicated they will look into this further. If I make list of labs using them Thermo might not kill the product Please RT🔬🦠
jove.com
Live Cell Imaging of Bacillus subtilis and Streptococcus pneumoniae using Automated Time-lapse Microscopy
42.1K Views. University of Groningen. This protocol provides a step-by-step procedure to monitor single cell behavior of different bacteria in time using automated fluorescence time-lapse microscopy....
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
We use these, as does @liam-rooney.bsky.social
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Missed the mmc conference abstract deadline but eager to present your latest work? Fear not! Late and Breaking abstracts open until Friday 2 May. More information here: www.mmc-series.org.uk/conference/a... @royalmicrosoc.bsky.social
mmc-series.org.uk
Abstract Submission
Abstract submission has now closed. You can now submit a late breaking abstract through Oxford Abstracts.
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Are you fed up wasting time and photons in laser scanning microscopy? Our latest work, PerfectlyAverage, can help to determine optimal parameters for line and frame averaging while considering photobleaching. More information in our preprint! 🔬 bit.ly/PerfectlyAve...
Image of 3T3-L1 cells stained with ActinGreen, imaged with a laser scanning fluorescence microscope
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Liam Rooney @liam-rooney.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
1 week left to submit for the Imaging Host-Pathogen Interactions session @ mmc'25! @rebeccamchugh.bsky.social & I are organising a @microbiologysociety.org sponsored session w/ invited speakers, Jessica Mark Welch @adaforsyth.bsky.social & Lara Hundsdorfer @unituebingen.bsky.social 🧪🔬 #MicroSky
An AI-generated fluorescence micrograph of red-coloured invading blobs attacking a blue branching network of filamentous cells on a dark background.
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Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Just a start! Who's missing? go.bsky.app/LAA7Sdx
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Laure Plantard @laureplantard.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
An image analyst position is available in our microscope facility. Please share!
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
UV curing, a spin coat after printing (details in www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...), and we’re printing optics of all shapes and sizes, so watch this space!
biorxiv.org
Printing, Characterising, and Assessing Transparent 3D Printed Lenses for Optical Imaging
The production of high-quality lenses for optical instrumentation has involved subtractive manufacturing methods for centuries. These methods have demanded specialist equipment and expertise that ofte...
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Reposted by Gail McConnell
Royal Microscopical Society Early Career Researchers @rmsearlycareer.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
🔊Some great opportunities from the Journal of Microscopy for Early Career Researchers (£200 prize for best paper!!)🔬 #earlycareer #microscopy #science
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Applications close today for the Strathclyde Optical Microscopy Course 2025! Apply at www.centreforbiophotonics.com/somc25 #Microscopy #ECRChat #MicroSky
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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Rhiannon Harrison (friend of a friend) is working on a dissertation on female football fandom of both men's and women's football. She's looking for female football fans to complete the attached survey. Please consider taking 10 mins to help Rhiannon out. forms.office.com/pages/respon...
forms.office.com
Microsoft Forms
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
After the excitement of #BIOS at #PhotonicsWest, a change of venue to visit Professor Jen Dionne at Stanford and present our latest work on mesoscale imaging of host-pathogen interactions 🦠🧫🔬
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
Showcasing the latest applications of the Mesolens and demonstrating our $0.08 3D printed optical-quality lenses manufactured using low-cost consumer grade printers! #PhotonicsWest @spie.org
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Gail McConnell @gailmcconnell.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Deadline for applications to the Strathclyde Optical Microscopy Course 2025 has been extended to 31 January 2025. It's shaping up to be an exciting event! Details below and at www.centreforbiophotonics.com/somc25 🔬 #Microscopy #ECRChat #MicroSky
centreforbiophotonics.com
SOMC24 | Centre For Biophotonics
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