Her areas of expertise are optical trapping and optical tweezers, Raman spectroscopy, application of nanoparticles (as sensors) in cells and integrating optics with microfluidics. She also works on optical tweezer micro-rheology, probing micro-mechanical properties of liquids and gels in 3D.  

She joined Heriot Watt University in 2007 as an RCUK Fellow and teach in the Physics department. She has a PhD (Physics) from St Andrews University and BSc (Molecular Biology) from Glasgow University. In her spare time she enjoys gardening and beachcombing. 

His research career has always focused on optical fibre design and fabrication and he has always works towards impact driven outputs both clinical and industrial.

Outside of research he’s interested in 1980s BMWs and really should’ve learnt how to weld.

Ahsan’s group focuses on bidirectional crosstalk of fibroblasts with immune cells, as well as developing translational methods to image these in vivo. This includes both an optical high-resolution method looking at fibroblast activity and whole-body approaches for activated fibroblast presence.

He previously undertook a PhD in optical molecular imaging  and has been involved in several of the first-in-human imaging studies.

Outside of work, he excels in the fields of gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soya free and nut free baking and enjoys cycling.

Jonathan completed his PhD in 1993 at the University of Cape Town. After completing his PhD, Jonathan worked as a research fellow at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and at the Optoelectronics Research Centre in Southampton. His research focuses on Wavelength-scale structures for optical applications including new forms of optical fibre.

He was Head of the Department of Physics at Bath from 2008 to 2013, and Associate Dean for Research (Science) from 2013 to 2015. He was the founding director of the Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials and has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal papers in top-flight international journals. He was the winner of a Leverhulme Research Fellowship (2009), the Institute of Physics Optics and Photonics Division Prize (2012), the Rank Prize for Optoelectronics (2018), a Chinese Academy of Sciences Presidents International Fellowship for Distinguished Scientists (2019) and Fellow of the Royal Society (2019).

Specific current interests include the development of new fibre-optic technologies for the minimally invasive imaging of tissues with unprecedented resolution, new light-based therapies for treating infection and resecting tissues with extreme precision, and new photonic approaches to interrogating tissues in a label free manner with the aim of guiding clinical decisions.

He is Principal Investigator of the £6.1M “u-Care” Programme Grant, which was funded as part of the EPSRC “Transformative Healthcare Technologies for 2050 call” and has been awarded ~£35M in funding since 2009 (~£11M as PI and £24M as Co-I). Robert collaborates closely with industry, and co-founded Optoscribe Ltd which now employs >35 staff and occupies dedicated manufacturing premises in Livingston – UK. Outside of work, Robert enjoys walking, reading, and spending time with the family and friends.

He is best known for pioneering work on photonic crystal fibres with various guidance mechanisms, including those with hollow cores, and for the development of tapered fibres including the photonic lantern.

The applications of this research include optical telecoms, astro-photonics, and biomedical sensing and imaging. He is inventor or co-inventor of 25 granted US and European patents. He was elected Fellow of the Optical Society of America in 2007, and was awarded the 2018 Rank Prize for Optoelectronics.

Following a postdoc in human genetics, Wendy started her independent research group as a fellow of the Lister Institute for Preventive Medicine. She is fascinated by the three-dimensional organization of the human genome and how that influences genome function in health and disease. Her current research explores how the non-coding genome regulates gene expression. Wendy is a Fellow of; the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of the Academy of Medical Sciences and is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization. 

Outside of work, Wendy plays tennis badly, gardens pretty well, and enjoys being taken for walks by two Airedale terriers.

He applies this strategy to improving diagnosis, treatment and outcomes for people with brain tumours, and traumatic brain or spinal injuries. He is part of the CRUK Adult Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence, and Tessa Jowell Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence in Edinburgh. As founder of University of Edinburgh spin-out, eoSurgical Ltd, he leads innovation in surgical simulation training around the world. He collaborates on bringing other innovative technologies to the clinic, such as the Clinspec Dx spectroscopic liquid biopsy test for early detection of cancer. In 2014 Paul helped in the foundation of the Compassion Initiative at the University of Edinburgh.

When not doing any of the above, he’ll be (hopefully) entertaining his children, unless he’s sneaked out for a run/row/cycle.

He received the M.Sci degree in Mathematics and Physics from Durham University (UK) in 2003, and the M.Sc and Ph.D degree, in 2004 and 2008 respectively, from Imperial College London (UK). After a period as an Imperial College Junior Research Fellow, he moved to the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany (2010) to lead the ultrafast nonlinear optics group in Prof. Philip Russell’s division. In 2015 he was awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant and joined the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Science at Heriot-Watt University, being promoted to full Professor in 2019. In 2020 he was awarded the ERC Consolidator Grant and elected as Fellow of the Optical Society (OSA).

John’s research is focused on using nonlinear optics to create new light sources with tailored, and sometimes extreme, spectral and temporal properties. A core research interest is the generation of deep and vacuum ultraviolet light using nonlinear dynamics in gas-filled hollow-core fibres.

John spends his free time with his young children, reading, and cycling.

Chris is especially focused on the generation and use of bright, tuneable, and ultrashort laser pulses in the ultraviolet, both in applied contexts and experiments in fundamental science. During his PhD at Imperial College London, he also worked on X-ray high-harmonic generation, strong-field physics, and ultrafast spectroscopy.

When he is not fiddling with laser beams, he can most often be found climbing various rocks.

Mike’s research group aims to exploit time resolved single photon technologies and optical fibre sensors for clinical/biomedical photonics and other real world applications, with strong links to Robert Thomson and the Photonic Instrumentation group.

Mike has a desire to bring the most advanced single photon technologies out of the darkened physics lab and into practical application, leading him to focus on transformative applications in healthcare. As a physicist with wide ranging experience in experimental systems, fibre optics, quantum technologies and fibre sensing he has developed advanced optical systems with the University of Edinburgh to optimise novel fibre technologies for clinical application.

Mike has a track record in developing quantum technologies. Initially designing silicon chips for quantum information processing at the Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory and the University of Cambridge, he moved to quantum optics and single photon detector technologies with the Quantum Sensors group at Heriot-Watt University and the University of Glasgow. While developing cutting edge quantum optics experiments and new secure optical communication technologies, he applied photon counting technologies to real world sensing problems. These included time of flight depth imaging, singlet oxygen fluorescence measurements for photodynamic therapy in cancer treatment and primary temperature measurement with optic fibre. Now he applies single photon detector arrays for medical sensing, imaging and diagnosis with a focus on practical systems for translation to clinic or elsewhere.

Bill’s work includes high bandwidth temperature and pressure sensors for aerodynamic measurements, novel fibres for structural monitoring, vibration and acceleration measurement, and studies into potential sensing applications of novel microstructured fibres. Recent work includes monitoring in remote environments, including sub-sea hydrodynamic flow measurement.  Current projects include biomedical applications of optical fibre sensors, and condition monitoring in harsh environments.

Many of these projects have been in colaboration with industry (such as QinetiQ, Rolls-Royce, Land Rover, Image Automation, AWE plc, Renishaw, Atlas Electronik), and other Universities (including Oxford, Bath, Sheffield, Aston, Birmingham, Leeds, Tallin, Groeninig Universities).

He has published over 120 journal and conference papers in this area, and was on the technical committee for the 2023 European Workshop on Optical Fibre Sensors.

Mohsen is a Lecturer in Robotics at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh. Previously he was a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences, University College London. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Alberta, Canada in 2017, his M.Sc. in Biomechanics from the Sharif University of Technology, Iran, in 2013, and his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Shiraz University, Iran, in 2010.

His research interests are in surgical robotics and image-guided therapies. His research typically focuses on the clinical problem first, and then working with surgeon collaborators to determine the best devices and theoretical approaches to solve it.

In his spare time, he enjoys playing and watching football. He is also a self-proclaimed home chef.