Events

High-content high-resolution imaging of the cellular world has undergone a revolution in recent years where techniques that provide higher resolution 3D imaging with wider fields of view have become accessible and, perhaps more importantly, relevant to the physiological content of mixed cell populations and tissue in living organisms. Amongst the highlights of such developments is the emergence of new correlative imaging synergies that depend on Soft X-ray Tomography (SXT) at cryogenic temperatures. At the correlative cryo-imaging beamline B24¹ of the UK synchrotron, we have implemented and refined such a correlative imaging platform to a high level of automation and throughput¹ by focusing not only on technique development but also on accessibility, ease of use and relevance to priorities in the biomedical field.

Here we will highlight the use of SXT within the current technology landscape and the partnerships that it supports across other imaging capabilities. Representative data from current biomedical areas will also be presented alongside a roadmap for best use and application of these new capabilities for the promotion of our understanding of the cellular universe.

Biography: I have recently been appointed as a research-focus Professor with the Research Technology Platform at the University of Warwick, studying infection pathways at the cellular/molecular level and developing innovation in the field of biotechnology and 3D nanoimaging for diagnostic purposes. I have held an honorary professorship in Chemistry at the University of Warwick since 2022 responsible for making synchrotron radiation technology an accessible tool for drug discovery. As of June 2025, I am responsible for the delivery of medical engineering technology for a substantive 6-year ERC Synergy grant which aspires to revolutionise medical diagnosis through synchrotron-based correlative cryo-imaging. Previously, I was the Principal Beamline Scientist of the correlative cryo-imaging beamline B24 at the UK synchrotron Diamond Light Source responsible for the design, construction, application development and delivery of the facility. Before my appointment at the UK synchrotron, I was a PI at the Structural Biology Division of the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford, and prior to that I was a post doctorate fellow at the CRUK unit of the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford. I did my PhD at the York Structural Biology Laboratory at the University of York under the supervision of Professor K Wilson and Professor E Dodson.