Research Expertise
A full description of our research interests can be found on our group website: www.elanigroup.org. Current group research directions include:
- Artificial cells
- Synthetic biology
- Drug delivery
- Vaccine technologies
- Biosensors
- Soft matter particle manufacture
- Biotechnology
- Biomembrane engineering
- Microfluidics
- Optical tweezers
- Microreactors
- Membrane Mechanics
Equipment and Facilities
We have labs at the Imperial White City campus (Molecular Sciences Research Hub) and at the South Kensington campus (ACEX building). If you would like to use our equipment feel free to get in touch to initiate a collaboration!
Microfluidics and Rapid Prototyping
Soft lithography station
Spin coater (Laurell)
Low-pressure plasma system (Diener)
PDMS chip fabrication station
3D printer (Ultimaker 3)
3D bioprinter
Programmable pressure pumps (Elveflow)
Programmable syringe pumps (Harvard)
Dolomite droplet microfluidics systems
Mitos Dropix system for droplet sequence production
Microfluidics rigs for the production of droplets, liposomes, beads, giant vesicles, mesophase particles, and nanoparticles.
Microscopy and Analytical Instruments
High-end inverted fluorescence microscope (Nikon)
Microscopy Peltier heating/cooling stage (-20 °C to 150 °C)
Confocal microscope (Leica)
2x stereoscopes, with fluorescence
Optical trapping microscope
Magnetic induction coils for nanoparticle heating (Ambrell)
Electrophysiology rig
Well-plate reader for fluorescence, UV-VIS, FRET, luminescence. With temperature functionality (>60 °C) and gas control for hypoxia studies (Calriostar).
Vesicle preparation
Extruders (for SUVs and LUVs)
Electroformation setup
Bath sonicator
Tip sonicator
Home-built bespoke microfluidic setup for GUV manufacture
General lab facilities
Bacterial cell culture facilities
Osmometer
Turbidity meter
Vacuum ovens
Lyophiliser
Selection of lasers, LEDs and irradiation chambers
2 x Benchtop centrifuge, temperature-controlled, including rotors for well-plates
Other equipment with group access
Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC)
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS; Malvern)
Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)
Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
TEM
Cryo-EM
Flow cytometer