Dylan Windell

I am the Research Facility Lead for the Digital Pathology Omics Core (DPOC) facility, which includes the Cell DIVE Multiplex Imaging system, Multiplex Ion Beam Imaging microscope (MIBIscope) and Open-Top Light Sheet system (OTLS).

After studying Biomedical Science at the University of Surrey, I completed a BBSRC iCASE PhD at the University of Exeter focusing on investigating the effect of nanoparticles in zebrafish using light sheet microscopy. This is where my passion for microscopy began, as I built an OpenSPIM system to quantify fluorescently tagged nanoparticles in whole zebrafish embryos. I then went on to work at Cambridge University using imaging and the zebrafish model to undertake an extensive drug screen to investigate disease mechanisms in MSD (Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency).

Since joining the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (KIR), I have set up the DPOC imaging facility, supporting both users from the University of Oxford and visiting scientists from across the world (including Brazil and Germany). I support the Director of Clinical Sciences, Professor Christopher Buckley with a remit to support tissue pathology across the Kennedy Institute, the Department of Oncology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genomics, and the new Institute for Developmental and Regenerative Medicine. I am currently focusing on further developing new protocols from my research and pushing forward the frontiers in multiplex imaging as well as improving existing protocols and technologies. I also help support the Oxford-Zeiss Centre of Excellence at KIR.

The DPOC facility is at the forefront of quantifying spatial relationships at subcellular resolutions, complementing the wealth of single-cell RNAseq data and increasing the potential for understanding cellular processes in human disease.