My Lab Essentials: Dr Mark Jepson from the Wolfson Bioimaging Facility

Dr Mark Jepson, Reader in Cell Biology and Manager of the Light Microscopy Unit at the Wolfson Bioimaging Facility at the University of Bristol, UK, shares his Lab Essentials with SelectScience and discusses the research carried out at the Wolfson Bioimaging Facility.

“The Wolfson Bioimaging Facility provides microscopy support for more than 300 researchers across Bristol University, local hospitals and visitors, said Dr Jepson.

“I lead the light microscopy unit, which houses an extensive range of fluorescence imaging systems (including confocal, wide-field, multiphoton, super-resolution, TIRF and FLIM), providing exceptional opportunities for researchers to access advanced microscopy applications. Our dedicated and highly experienced support team provides advice on all stages of microscopy projects, from sample preparation through image acquisition to analysis,” he explained.

“The facility’s extensive user base encompasses many of the university’s major research areas, including dynamic cell biology, neuroscience, cardiovascular science, infection and immunity, cancer research, synthetic biology and nanoscience. On a typical day, we may be hosting experiments to study anything from wound healing and inflammation in living zebrafish and Drosophila embryos to signaling and the regulation of cellular function in immune, neural and cardiac cells, and in caner and infection. The diversity of the experiments taking place on a regular basis within the facility reflects the breadth of our user base,” said Dr Jepson.

“Although the over-arching aim of most of the research we support is to understand disease mechanisms with the ultimate goal of developing therapies, we operate a non-restrictive access policy to incorporate more fundamental studies of cell and tissue biology, and other areas such as plant biology, materials sciences and protocell research,” he explained.

“With the facility diversifying into new imaging modes such as multiphoton, super-resolution (STED) and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), we are excited by the prospect of the scope of the experiments we support extending further into new research areas. In 2015, we will expand into a newly refurbished microscopy suite funded by the Wolfson Foundation.”

Here are Dr Jepson’s lab essentials:

Leica SP8 confocal microscope (high end tandem scanner with HyDs and adaptive focus control)

Leica LASX widefield microscope systems (we have three with differing specifications)

Leica SP8X SMD confocal microscope with STED and FLIM/FCS

Leica SP8 MP spectral confocal system with Spectra Physics DeepSee laser

Leica SPE confocal microscope

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