Career and research
McConnell almost worked in telecommunications, but was convinced by Ferguson to join Strathclyde's new Centre for Biophotonics. [10] [11] She became interested in biomedical research and increasingly aware of the limitations of commercial imaging. [11] Here she worked with Alison Gurney on the development of confocal, multi-photon wide-field microscopes. [10] Gurney encouraged McConnell to apply for fellowships, and she was a Royal Society of Edinburgh and Research Councils UK (RCUK) postdoctoral fellow. [8] She developed the world's first white light supercontinuum laser that could be used for confocal microscopy, as well as laser scanning fluorescence microscopy. [12] [13] She attended the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Practical Course in Advanced Optical Microscopy in Plymouth, which she has continued to support throughout her academic career. [10]
McConnell directs the Centre for Biophotonics and Mesolens laboratory at the University of Strathclyde, [14] working on nonlinear and linear optical instrumentation for biomedical imaging. [15] Nonlinear optics allows physicists precise control of excitation parameters, including the chance to tune the duration of laser pules. [16]
In 2009, McConnell began working with William Bradshaw Amos and built a new lens, Mesolens, that can allow 3D imaging with a depth resolution of a few microns for objects up to 6 mm wide and 3 mm thick. [17] [18] The Mesolens is a giant optical microscope objective supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC). [14] It can be used to image large biomedical specimens, including embryos, tumours and areas in brain, as well as scanning large areas of samples in a short amount of time. [17] [18] [19] The lens has 260 megapixel effective camera and a magic ratio of 8:1, which can even resolve individual bacteria. [11] [20] As the photometric volume can sample such a large area with sub-cellular detail, the Mesolens may allow for the imaging of rare events. [20] Mesolens became a University spin-off, but McConnell decided to stay in academia to explore the physics of biomedical processes. [11] The Mesolens generates such large amounts of data that McConnell became interested in computational biology. [11] The Mesolens was selected by Physics World as one of the top achievements of 2016. [21] She discussed the Mesolens on the podcast Not Exactly Rocket Science. [22]
Alongside the Mesolens, McConnell has explored how laser sources can be used to open voltage-gated ion channels, such as Calcium-activated potassium channels. [23] She has developed a fast-acquisition version of two-photon excitation microscopy that can be used to image at rates of 100 frames/second. [24] She created polymer hydrogel beads that are responsive to enzymes. [25] She is working with the Medical Research Scotland to create high brightness light-emitting diodes. [26]
In May 2012, she was appointed Professor and Director of the Centre for Biophotonics at the University of Strathclyde. [10] She leads the Strathclyde Theme of Physics and Life Sciences and is part of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Doctoral Training in Optical Medical Imaging. [27]
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