Contact Us
Contact details for the IRR Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting facility and its staff members.
IRR Cell Sorting and Flow Cytometry Facility
Contact details
- Work: +44(0)131 651 9533
- Office: +44(0)131 651 9522
- Email: irrflow@ed.ac.uk
- Web: www.ed.ac.uk/littlefrancedirections
- Twitter @IRRFlow
Address
- Street
Institute for Regeneration & Repair
University of Edinburgh
4-5 Little France Drive
Edinburgh BioQuarter- City
- Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Post Code
- EH16 4UU
Availability
Monday - Friday
9am - 5pm
Fiona Rossi
Flow Cytometry Facility Manager
Fiona obtained a BSc degree in Chemistry in 1984 from the University of Glasgow and a Master’s degree in Information Technology for Women into Management at the University of Middlesex in 1992. She was the first woman to work as a Plant Technician as a Technical Officer at Glaxochem Limited in, Annan, Dumfriesshire. When Fiona moved to North Carolina, USA she worked as a research assistant at Wake Forest University, North Carolina, USA during 1988 to 1991. When Fiona returned to the UK, she studied for her Master’s degree and then worked in the various laboratories before joining the CIR where she worked as a tissue culture technician and then flow cytometry specialist for over 10 years. Fiona joined the Centre for Regeneration Medicine to Head the Flow Cytometry Facility in 2014. Fiona has successfully run this facility for almost 10 years and is a co-author or has been acknowledged on many scientific publications.
Dr. Claire Cryer
Flow Cytometry Specialist
Claire has been working in the flow cytometry facility in CRM for 10 years and has experience with various analysers and cell sorters. Prior to this, she did her PhD in Cambridge, and then worked in scientific publishing in London before returning to Edinburgh, where she trained as a clinical scientist in the Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics laboratory at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. As part of that post, she used flow cytometry to do crossmatching for transplants.
Ailsa Laird
Flow Cytometry Specialist
Ailsa joined the University of Edinburgh last year from the University of Aberdeen where she worked for 4 years. She first became proficient in flow cytometry during her Biochemistry degree at the University of Glasgow when she completed a placement at AstraZeneca. Here she developed multi-colour immunophenotyping assays for the assessment of tumour-infiltrating immune cell populations. Ailsa has experience working in spectral, imaging and traditional flow cytometry and has quickly become a valued member of the team as the facility continues to accumulate more cutting-edge equipment and continues to provide exceptional support and service. She is an active member of the flow cytometry community both within Scotland and the UK and regularly teaches on national flow cytometry courses.
Previous Members of Staff
Shonna Johnston CSci MIScT: Flow Cytometry Manager (2000-2023)
Shonna has been continuously employed in this flow cytometry lab since 2000, overseeing its development from being the sole member of staff, through to its current status as a key core facility within the QMRI, employing 3 members of staff and capable of supporting the institute's 450 researchers.
Following her undergrad in Pharmacology at the University of Edinburgh (UoE), she held positions in the Clinical Pharmacology Unit, UoE, performing immunoassays and the Protein Fractionation Centre of the Blood Transfusion Service, where she utilized various biochemical measurement techniques to high levels of GLP. She then moved to the Centre for Inflammation Research (CIR) where she managed the tissue culture lab and developed in-house antibody production by culturing hybridoma lines, conjugating the antibodies produced to fluorochromes before titrating and validating by flow cytometry. This accumulated experience assisted her move to the CIR flow cytometry lab as she was able to advise researchers on sample preparation and develop the lab as a service facility. Working with different internal and external groups, she quickly gained considerable knowledge of many cell types.
She is involved in both local and national flow cytometry groups/societies; FlowCytometryUK; Scottish Society of Cytomics, and its predecessor, the Northern Flow Group; as well as the Edinburgh Flow Group.
Within her current position, she has also facilitated management of the imaging facility, which has given her a greater understanding of cells and their processes from a different perspective.
Co-Author Papers: Shonna Johnston Publications
Dr. Will Ramsay: Flow Cytometry Specialist (2013-2022)
Will joined the QMRI Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting facility in 2013. He has a broad background in biologically focused interdisciplinary sciences, having pursued an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from the University of Dundee followed by postgraduate study at Heriot-Watt University for a master’s degree in Nanotechnology & Microsystems and a doctorate for work developing Biophotonic tools for single cell biology.
Dr. Mari (Pattison) George: Flow Cytometry Research Assistant (2016-2022)
Mari is the newest member of staff at the QMRI Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility, having joined the team in October 2016. She was first introduced to flow cytometry during her undergrad at The University of Glasgow and gained plenty of practical experience during her PhD at The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh. Her PhD aim was to investigate the effects of ageing on the murine immune system, which led her to routinely perform flow cytometry with up to 10 parameters.
Since working here at the facility, she has increased her practical experience and knowledge on flow cytometry and learned much about the intricacies of cell sorting. Mari has become active within the Scottish Society of Cytomics (SSC) Committee, and has also become a valued member of the team as the facility continues to accumulate more cutting edge equipment and continue to provide exceptional support and service.