Banner image courtesy of John Sutherland, Ailsa Laird & Anna Popravko, Institute of Regeneration and Repair, University of Edinburgh
This year’s annual Flow Cytometry Facilities meeting is being held in-person on 8 and 9 January 2025 in Edinburgh, starting at lunchtime on 8 January, and finishing at lunchtime on 9 January. The meeting is aimed at all those that run or work in a Flow cytometry core facility and seeks to highlight and address common issues within the community. This year we will focus on various operational aspects of facility management including funding, data management and interaction with other technology platforms. Sessions will be a panel format to present views, followed by an interactive discussion around the points raised at the end of each session. We will also include presentations from current core facilities (Crib talks) and from our industry colleagues (Technobites). If you are interested in delivering a Crib talk, please do indicate this at registration.
Scientific Organisers
Shonna Johnston
Shonna Johnston CSci MIScT, IRR Technology & Services Director
Shonna Johnston graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology from the University of Edinburgh in 1996. Following this she went on to pursue a career in medical sciences with the University. Starting as a Technical Officer in the Clinical Pharmacology Unit, then at the Protein Fractionation Centre of the Blood Transfusion Service, she performed immunoassays and utilized various biochemical measurement techniques to high levels of GLP. Later she moved to the Centre for Inflammation Research (CIR) managing the tissue culture lab and developing in-house antibody production by culturing hybridoma lines, conjugating these antibodies to fluorochromes. It was the titration and validated of these by flow cytometry that piqued her interest and assisted a permanent move to the CIR flow cytometry lab, advising researchers on sample preparation and developing the lab as a service facility. Working with different internal and external groups, she quickly gained considerable knowledge of many cell types.
Over the next 20 years, she oversaw its development from being the sole member of staff, through to its status as a key core facility within the University. With the formation of the Institute for Regeneration & Repair in 2023, she has taken on a new role as Technology & Services Director, where she oversees strategy for buildings, labs, and 6 core technologies. She is excited to support the continued development of these facilities and their service provision to IRR, the university and partners.
She is involved in both local and national flow cytometry groups/societies; RMS/FlowCytometryUK; Scottish Society of Cytomics, ISAC and more recently the UK Technology Specialists Network (TSN).
Claire Cryer
Claire has been working in flow cytometry at the University of Edinburgh for 11 years. She studied at the University of Edinburgh [BSc (honours) in Biological Sciences (Experimental Pathology), 2003] and the University of Cambridge (PhD, 2008).
Prior to starting in the facility, Claire first became skilled in flow cytometry as part of her training as a Clinical Scientist in the Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics laboratory at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, where the team were using flow cytometry to provide support for solid organ transplantation and HPCT.
In her time in the facility, Claire has become a capable and experienced member of the team, with expertise in using a variety of flow cytometers, including cell sorters. She also has knowledge in troubleshooting, maintenance, QC and training of facility users. With the recent facility merger, Claire also has gained experience in spectral analysis and image cytometry. Outside of the laboratory, Claire is involved in the flow cytometry community by being an active committee member of the Scottish Society of Cytomics (SSC).
Aaron Hay
Aaron obtained his BSc in Neuroscience at The University of Edinburgh in 2023. He has since joined the flow cytometry core facility at the Institute for Regeneration and Repair (IRR). As part of the facility team, Aaron’s main roles involve assisting users with the cell sorting service as well as performing routine maintenance and QC of the instruments within the facility.
RMS Contacts
Kate Wooding
kate@rms.org.uk
01865 254761
Contact Kate for Outreach committee queries, Diploma queries, RMS Events and mmc Series Conference queries.
Dawn Hopkins
dawn@rms.org.uk
01865 254774
Contact Dawn for corporate opportunities and RMS Corporate Advisory Board (CAB) enquiries.
Nick Cameron
nick@rms.org.uk
01865 254772
Contact Nick for exhibition and sponsorship event queries and RMS Corporate Membership.
Ailsa Laird
Ailsa Laird has been working in Flow Cytometry for over 6 years, most recently at the University of Edinburgh. She first became proficient in flow cytometry during the placement year of her Biochemistry degree at the University of Glasgow. Ailsa worked for AstraZeneca where 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 active member of the flow cytometry community both within Scotland and the UK, co-authoring workshops at both FlowUK and Cyto23 and regularly teaches on national flow cytometry courses.
John Sutherland
John works in the Flow Cytometry facility in Institute for Regeneration and Repair (IRR). His previous job was working as a technician in a similar facility for the University of Cambridge. Before that he worked for UKHSA during the pandemic in the Cambridge Public Health Lab. He moved to Edinburgh with his partner Joy, who is a new PI, and their dog Jura.