Gail McConnell
gailmcconnell.bsky.social
Gail McConnell
@gailmcconnell.bsky.social
Professor of Biophotonics at the University of Strathclyde. Develops new optical microscope & Mesolens instrumentation & methods for biomedical imaging 🔬
Reposted by Gail McConnell
@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.
November 5, 2025 at 3:00 PM
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.
November 5, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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. 🎢 ⚛️ 🧪 👩‍🔬
November 3, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
Low-Cost 3D Printed Optics for Super-Resolution Multifocal Structured Illumination Microscopy https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.09.680962v1
October 10, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
2026 SIBPA|IVSLA Intl School of biophysics, Venice 2-6 February 2026. venice.ibf.cnr.it

This should be an interesting school for students to attend.
October 8, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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...
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...
www.biorxiv.org
August 12, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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!💫
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
August 2, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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
August 2, 2025 at 10:11 AM
A coffee and a lecture from @superresolusian.bsky.social at the Strathclyde Optical Microscopy Course is one of my happy places #SOMC25
July 28, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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.
July 26, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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!
July 27, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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. 🌊🪼🦀
July 27, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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?
July 24, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
Day 2 Lecture 2 of #SOMC25 delivered by David McKee (@physicsstrath.bsky.social) on Ray and Wave Optics. 🌈🔬
July 24, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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.
July 24, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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! 🔬
July 23, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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...
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect.
slate.com
June 19, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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.
May 29, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Improved contrast transmission stereomicroscopy using a low-cost 3D printed optical element! 🔬🧫🐟🧅 More details in our preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
May 22, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
🚨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)
May 22, 2025 at 10:31 AM
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
It's *Deadline Day* to submit your 'late-breaking' abstract for #mmc2025!

Don't miss out on presenting the most exciting recent developments in #microscopy, #imaging and #FlowCytometry in #Manchester this summer!

mmc-series.org.uk/conference/a...

@rmsearlycareer.bsky.social
May 2, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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
April 1, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Gail McConnell
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🔬🦠
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....
www.jove.com
April 8, 2025 at 1:26 PM
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
Abstract Submission
Abstract submission has now closed. You can now submit a late breaking abstract through Oxford Abstracts.
www.mmc-series.org.uk
April 2, 2025 at 11:18 AM