Our technologies

The UK DRI is committed to providing access to the best technology and tools for its researchers to enable the highest level of scientific achievement. At the UK DRI Centre at Imperial, we are equipped with a wide range of state-of-the-art technologies spanning a broad remit of scientific areas.

Read more about our capabilities at the Centre and the technologists with dedicated expertise for each.

Hyperion Imaging System

Mass cytometry with Helio uses CyTOF technology to enable deep profiling of translational and clinical research samples across a range of cell surface and intracellular markers

Read more about the Hyperion imaging expertise in the Centre

FACSMelody Cell Sorter

High-speed cell sorter that uses flow cytometry techniques to separate cells for downstream interrogation of distinct cell populations

Read more about the FACSMelody expertise in the Centre

qPCR

High throughput fluoresence-based polymerase chain reaction for quantitative and qualitative detection of target sequence

Read more about the qPCR expertise in the Centre

Photograph of the super resolution microscope in the lab

Super-resolution TIRF Microscope

The Nikon Ti2 inverted fluorescence microscope provides a motorized and intelligent platform for advanced imaging applications.

Read more about the microscopy expertise at the Centre

Circadian Imaging Suite

Circadian imaging suite custom-built for non-invasive detection of rest/activity cycles in freely behaving mice

UK DRI Private Cloud Workstations

Lead Bioinformaticist, Dr Eugene Duff, has set up a number of virtual workstations which can be used by UKDRI Imperial staff and students for small-medium scale data processing (CPU or GPU), hosting data, and other applications

View the Private Cloud webpage (requires College log in)

BioRender

Choose from thousands of scientifically-accurate images to create professional scientific figures in minutes
Available to download on the Imperial College Software Hub

Find out more on the BioRender website

QIAGEN Ingenuity Pathway Analysis

QIAGEN Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) is the leading pathway analysis application among the life science research community and is cited in tens of thousands of articles for the analysis, integration and interpretation of data derived from ‘omics experiments.

Read more about the QIAGEN expertise at the Centre

MATLAB

MATLAB is a programming and numeric computing environment used by millions of engineers and scientists to analyze data, develop algorithms, and create models
Available to download on the Software Hub under the College license

Find out more on the MATLAB website

GeoMx Spatial Transcriptomics

Bridging the gap between tissue imaging and molecular profiling technologies, such as single-cell anaysis, the GeoMx® Digital Spatial Profiler (DSP) allows you to unlock novel biological insights with spatial multi-omics

Find out more on the Nanostring website

iPSCs

Harnessing the unique property of pluripotent stem cells to generate distinct cell types and model the ageing process

Read more about the iPSC expertise at the Centre

Meet our Technologists!

We are fortunate to have a fantastic range of technicians working at the UK DRI on various research projects.

How temperature and circadian rhythms intersect to regulate a protein shown to protect against neurodegeneration

A new study led by Dr Marco Brancaccio (UK DRI at Imperial) and Dr Marieke Hoekstra (former UK DRI at Imperial, now VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research) offers a deeper insight into how a neuroprotective pathway is regulated both by temperature and the body clock. This research, published in the journal PNAS, could open up new therapeutic avenues for neurodegenerative disease. Read more on the UK DRI website

Introducing Cynthia Sandor: Pioneering earlier detection of Parkinson’s

Dr Cynthia Sandor, former Emerging Leader at the UK DRI at Cardiff, joins the UK DRI at Imperial as a Group Leader, where she will be tackling early diagnosis of Parkinson’s.

With a background in genetics, Dr Sandor uses computational methods to bring greater understanding to the underlying molecular mechanisms of Parkinson’s. Read more about Cynthia's work on the UK DRI website.

Ageing brain fails to control neuronal activity with consequences for cognition

Age-linked cognitive decline findings from our UK DRI Centre

Ageing brain fails to control neuronal activity with consequences for cognition, according to a study led by Dr Sam Barnes and Dr Carola Radulescu. Read more on the UK DRI website.

Ancient DNA reveals reason for high MS and Alzheimer’s rates in Europe

Groundbreaking study of ancient genes provides brand new biological understanding of debilitating disorders

Researchers have created the world’s largest ancient human gene bank by analysing the bones and teeth of almost 5,000 humans who lived across western Europe and Asia up to 34,000 years ago. By sequencing ancient human DNA and comparing it to modern-day samples, the international team of experts mapped the historical spread of genes – and diseases – over time as populations migrated.

Read more on the University of Cambridge website.

Health Minister visits White City to see pioneering dementia research

The Minister for Health and Secondary Care Andrew Stephenson MP visited the UK Dementia Research Institute at White City.

The new Minister for Health and Secondary Care Andrew Stephenson MP visited Imperial's White City Campus yesterday to see the work of the UK Dementia Research Institute Care Research and Technology Centre based at the Sir Michael Uren Hub. The Minister was hosted by Professor Deborah Ashby, Interim Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and Professor Siddharthan Chandran, Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute. Read more on the Imperial news website.

New non-invasive form of deep brain stimulation could provide alternative treatment for brain diseases

Cutting-edge work led by Imperial PI Dr Nir Grossman makes national press

Scientists from the UK Dementia Research Institute centre at Imperial College London featured on ITV News and in national newspapers. Read more on the Imperial website and the UK DRI website.

Imperial named UK’s best university

Imperial College London is ranked top of a new league table of UK universities.

Imperial has also been named University of the Year in the league table, published by the Daily Mail, and is praised for its "sustained excellence in all areas” alongside its commitment to social inclusion, including generous bursary support.

Read full article.

The UK Dementia Research Institute is a joint £290 million investment from the Medical Research Council (MRC), Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK.