Gail McConnell
@gailmcconnell.bsky.social
2.4K followers 2.4K following 27 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
annieneuro.bsky.social
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.
Reposted by Gail McConnell
Reposted by Gail McConnell
sarahlecinski.bsky.social
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!💫
liam-rooney.bsky.social
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
Reposted by Gail McConnell
liam-rooney.bsky.social
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
gailmcconnell.bsky.social
A coffee and a lecture from @superresolusian.bsky.social at the Strathclyde Optical Microscopy Course is one of my happy places #SOMC25
Reposted by Gail McConnell
liam-rooney.bsky.social
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.
Reposted by Gail McConnell
katherinepaine.bsky.social
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!
Reposted by Gail McConnell
liam-rooney.bsky.social
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. 🌊🪼🦀
Reposted by Gail McConnell
liam-rooney.bsky.social
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?
Reposted by Gail McConnell
liam-rooney.bsky.social
Day 2 Lecture 2 of #SOMC25 delivered by David McKee (@physicsstrath.bsky.social) on Ray and Wave Optics. 🌈🔬
Reposted by Gail McConnell
liam-rooney.bsky.social
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.
Reposted by Gail McConnell
liam-rooney.bsky.social
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! 🔬
Reposted by Gail McConnell
trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social
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
Reposted by Gail McConnell
seamusholden.bsky.social
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.
gailmcconnell.bsky.social
Improved contrast transmission stereomicroscopy using a low-cost 3D printed optical element! 🔬🧫🐟🧅 More details in our preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Gail McConnell
liam-rooney.bsky.social
🚨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)
gailmcconnell.bsky.social
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
royalmicrosoc.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
A scientific poster presenter in a black, striped shirt chats with a visitor at mmc2023. A row of posters is visible in the background.
Reposted by Gail McConnell
drandyjroe.bsky.social
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
Reposted by Gail McConnell
seamusholden.bsky.social
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
gailmcconnell.bsky.social
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
gailmcconnell.bsky.social
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
Reposted by Gail McConnell
liam-rooney.bsky.social
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.
Reposted by Gail McConnell