Peter J O'Toole

Last updated
Peter John O'Toole
NationalityBritish
Alma mater
Known for Microscopy, Teaching, Outreach
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
Thesis Spectrin-lipid interactions: investigations by fluorescence spectroscopy and digital fluorescence microscopy (1998)
Website O'Toole's Research Profile

Peter John O'Toole is a British biologist who is the Director of the Bioscience Technology Facility [1] and the Head of Imaging and Cytometry [2] at University of York. Since 2023, O'Toole has served as the president of the Royal Microscopical Society. [3]

Contents

Education

O'Toole completed his undergraduate studies in biology at the University of Essex and earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Cellular Biophysics from University of Essex in 1998. During his Ph.D. studies in the laboratory of Richard Cherry, he was involved in many aspects of fluorescence imaging and flow cytometry. [4] [5]

Career and research

Before starting his position as Head of Imaging and Cytometry at the University of York in 2022, O'Toole underwent his postdoctoral training at University of Essex with Richard Cherry. [6]

As head of Imaging and Cytometry and, since 2016, also as director of the Bioscience Technology Facility at University of York, O'Toole is responsible for supervising the Imaging and Cytometry laboratories, which are equipped with various confocal microscopes, flow cytometers, and electron microscopes. O'Toole's team collaborates with leading microscopy and cytometry companies, providing research assistance and consultancy services to academic and commercial organizations. [7] [8]

O'Toole's research is currently focused on both technology and method development of novel probes and imaging modalities. [9] [10] [11] [12]

In addition to his responsibilities in managing facilities and research, O'Toole plays important roles in several organizations, including the Royal Microscopical Society, Core Technologies for Life Sciences, and the European Light Microscopy Initiative (ELMI). He is also actively involved in teaching activities, such as the RMS Light Microscopy Summer School [13] and the RMS Practical Flow Cytometry [14] courses.

Since 2020, O'Toole has hosted the "The Microscopists" podcast, a podcast from Bitesize Bio sponsored by ZEISS Microscopy. During the podcast, O'Toole interviews microscopists about their careers and lives outside work. [15]

Since 2023, O'Toole has held the position of President at the Royal Microscopical Society, succeeding Professor Grace Burke, who had been serving since 2019. [16] [17] [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microscopy</span> Viewing of objects which are too small to be seen with the naked eye

Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view objects and areas of objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye. There are three well-known branches of microscopy: optical, electron, and scanning probe microscopy, along with the emerging field of X-ray microscopy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microscope</span> Scientific instrument

A microscope is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisible to the eye unless aided by a microscope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flow cytometry</span> Lab technique in biology and chemistry

Flow cytometry (FC) is a technique used to detect and measure physical and chemical characteristics of a population of cells or particles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching</span>

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is a method for determining the kinetics of diffusion through tissue or cells. It is capable of quantifying the two-dimensional lateral diffusion of a molecularly thin film containing fluorescently labeled probes, or to examine single cells. This technique is very useful in biological studies of cell membrane diffusion and protein binding. In addition, surface deposition of a fluorescing phospholipid bilayer allows the characterization of hydrophilic surfaces in terms of surface structure and free energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fluorescence microscope</span> Optical microscope that uses fluorescence and phosphorescence

A fluorescence microscope is an optical microscope that uses fluorescence instead of, or in addition to, scattering, reflection, and attenuation or absorption, to study the properties of organic or inorganic substances. "Fluorescence microscope" refers to any microscope that uses fluorescence to generate an image, whether it is a simple set up like an epifluorescence microscope or a more complicated design such as a confocal microscope, which uses optical sectioning to get better resolution of the fluorescence image.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confocal microscopy</span> Optical imaging technique

Confocal microscopy, most frequently confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) or laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM), is an optical imaging technique for increasing optical resolution and contrast of a micrograph by means of using a spatial pinhole to block out-of-focus light in image formation. Capturing multiple two-dimensional images at different depths in a sample enables the reconstruction of three-dimensional structures within an object. This technique is used extensively in the scientific and industrial communities and typical applications are in life sciences, semiconductor inspection and materials science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two-photon excitation microscopy</span> Fluorescence imaging technique

Two-photon excitation microscopy is a fluorescence imaging technique that is particularly well-suited to image scattering living tissue of up to about one millimeter in thickness. Unlike traditional fluorescence microscopy, where the excitation wavelength is shorter than the emission wavelength, two-photon excitation requires simultaneous excitation by two photons with longer wavelength than the emitted light. The laser is focused onto a specific location in the tissue and scanned across the sample to sequentially produce the image. Due to the non-linearity of two-photon excitation, mainly fluorophores in the micrometer-sized focus of the laser beam are excited, which results in the spatial resolution of the image. This contrasts with confocal microscopy, where the spatial resolution is produced by the interaction of excitation focus and the confined detection with a pinhole.

High-content screening (HCS), also known as high-content analysis (HCA) or cellomics, is a method that is used in biological research and drug discovery to identify substances such as small molecules, peptides, or RNAi that alter the phenotype of a cell in a desired manner. Hence high content screening is a type of phenotypic screen conducted in cells involving the analysis of whole cells or components of cells with simultaneous readout of several parameters. HCS is related to high-throughput screening (HTS), in which thousands of compounds are tested in parallel for their activity in one or more biological assays, but involves assays of more complex cellular phenotypes as outputs. Phenotypic changes may include increases or decreases in the production of cellular products such as proteins and/or changes in the morphology of the cell. Hence HCA typically involves automated microscopy and image analysis. Unlike high-content analysis, high-content screening implies a level of throughput which is why the term "screening" differentiates HCS from HCA, which may be high in content but low in throughput.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phase-contrast microscopy</span> Optical microscopy technique

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefan Hell</span> Romanian-German physicist (born 1962)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andor Technology</span> Developer and manufacturer of high performance light measuring solutions

Andor Technology Ltd is a global developer and manufacturer of high-performance scientific cameras, microscopy systems and spectrographs for academic, government, and industrial applications. Founded in 1989, the company's products play a central role in the advancement of research in the fields of life sciences, physical sciences, and industrial applications. Andor was purchased for £176 million in December 2013 by Oxford Instruments. The company is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and now employs over 400 staff across the group at its offices in Belfast, Japan, China, Switzerland and the US.

Johan Sebastiaan Ploem is a Dutch microscopist and digital artist. He made significant contribution to the field of fluorescence microscopy, and invented reflection interference contrast microscopy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nestor J. Zaluzec</span> American scientist and inventor

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Christoph Cremer is a German physicist and emeritus at the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, former honorary professor at the University of Mainz and was a former group leader at Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany, who has successfully overcome the conventional limit of resolution that applies to light based investigations by a range of different methods. In the meantime, according to his own statement, Christoph Cremer is a member of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raman microscope</span> Laser microscope used for Raman spectroscopy

The Raman microscope is a laser-based microscopic device used to perform Raman spectroscopy. The term MOLE is used to refer to the Raman-based microprobe. The technique used is named after C. V. Raman, who discovered the scattering properties in liquids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microfluorimetry</span>

Microfluorimetry is an adaption of fluorimetry for studying the biochemical and biophysical properties of cells by using microscopy to image cell components tagged with fluorescent molecules. It is a type of microphotometry that gives a quantitative measure of the qualitative nature of fluorescent measurement and therefore, allows for definitive results that would have been previously indiscernible to the naked eye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cytometry</span> Measurement of number and characteristics of cells

Cytometry is the measurement of number and characteristics of cells. Variables that can be measured by cytometric methods include cell size, cell count, cell morphology, cell cycle phase, DNA content, and the existence or absence of specific proteins on the cell surface or in the cytoplasm. Cytometry is used to characterize and count blood cells in common blood tests such as the complete blood count. In a similar fashion, cytometry is also used in cell biology research and in medical diagnostics to characterize cells in a wide range of applications associated with diseases such as cancer and AIDS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live-cell imaging</span> Study of living cells using time-lapse microscopy

Live-cell imaging is the study of living cells using time-lapse microscopy. It is used by scientists to obtain a better understanding of biological function through the study of cellular dynamics. Live-cell imaging was pioneered in the first decade of the 21st century. One of the first time-lapse microcinematographic films of cells ever made was made by Julius Ries, showing the fertilization and development of the sea urchin egg. Since then, several microscopy methods have been developed to study living cells in greater detail with less effort. A newer type of imaging using quantum dots have been used, as they are shown to be more stable. The development of holotomographic microscopy has disregarded phototoxicity and other staining-derived disadvantages by implementing digital staining based on cells’ refractive index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gail McConnell</span> Scottish physicist and professor

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J. Paul Robinson is an Australian/American educator, biologist, biomedical engineer, and expert in the applications of flow cytometry. He is a Distinguished Professor of Cytometry in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, a professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, a professor of Computer and Information Management at Purdue University, an adjunct professor of Microbiology & Immunology at West Lafayette Center for Medical Education, Indiana University School of Medicine, and the Director of Purdue University Cytometry Laboratories.

References

  1. "Our services".
  2. "The Imaging and Cytometry Laboratory".
  3. "Council".
  4. https://rupress.org/jcb/article/140/1/71/878/Detection-of-Dimers-of-Dimers-of-Human-Leukocyte
  5. o'Toole, Peter J.; Morrison, Ian E.G; Cherry, Richard J. (2000). "Investigations of spectrin–lipid interactions using fluoresceinphosphatidylethanolamine as a membrane probe". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes. 1466 (1–2): 39–46. doi:10.1016/S0005-2736(00)00168-1. PMID   10825429.
  6. https://analyticalscience.wiley.com/content/news-do/peter-o-toole-taking-technology-further
  7. "Imaging Scientist - Peter O'Toole".
  8. "An interview with Peter O'Toole - part 2". 14 December 2021.
  9. Sturmey, R. G.; o'Toole, P. J.; Leese, H. J. (2006). "Fluorescence resonance energy transfer analysis of mitochondrial:lipid association in the porcine oocyte". Reproduction. 132 (6): 829–837. doi:10.1530/REP-06-0073. PMID   17127743.
  10. Marrison, Joanne; Räty, Lotta; Marriott, Poppy; O'Toole, Peter (2013). "Ptychography – a label free, high-contrast imaging technique for live cells using quantitative phase information". Scientific Reports. 3: 2369. Bibcode:2013NatSR...3E2369M. doi:10.1038/srep02369. PMC   3734479 . PMID   23917865.
  11. Kasprowicz, Richard; Suman, Rakesh; o'Toole, Peter (2017). "Characterising live cell behaviour: Traditional label-free and quantitative phase imaging approaches". The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology. 84: 89–95. doi:10.1016/j.biocel.2017.01.004. PMID   28111333.
  12. Zimmermann, Timo; Marrison, Joanne; Hogg, Karen; o'Toole, Peter (2014). "Clearing up the Signal: Spectral Imaging and Linear Unmixing in Fluorescence Microscopy". Confocal Microscopy. Methods in Molecular Biology. Vol. 1075. pp. 129–148. doi:10.1007/978-1-60761-847-8_5. ISBN   978-1-58829-351-0. PMID   24052349.
  13. "Light Microscopy Summer School 2024".
  14. "Flow Cytometry Course 2024".
  15. https://themicroscopists.bitesizebio.com/
  16. "Peter O'Toole becomes new Head of the RMS".
  17. "Council".
  18. "Under the microscope: An interview with Peter O'Toole". 20 December 2023.