Staff at the Facility

Our amazing technical staff

Chris is a flow cytometry specialist who manages the Flow Cytometry Facility at the University of Edinburgh (School of Biological Sciences).

His career path bridges technical laboratory management and academic research, specifically within the fields of immunology and cell biology.

  • University of Edinburgh (2025–Present): Manager of the SBS Flow Cytometry Facility.
  • Babraham Institute (2020–2025): Deputy Manager of Flow Cytometry. During this time, he became well-known for creating educational content regarding flow cytometry and for his ability to work with novel instrumentation and spectral flow cytometry.
  • European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Rome (2019–2020): Manager of the Flow Cytometry Facility.
  • Wellcome Sanger Institute (2015–2019): Senior Research Assistant in the Cytometry Core Facility, specialising in single cell sorting.
  • King’s College London (KCL) (2011–2015): Research Technician. He worked with Dr. Valerie Corrigall on the BiP Rheumatoid Arthritis clinical trial.

Research Interests and Contributions

  • Spectral Flow Cytometry: Building analysis pipelines and advancing novel methodology and insights into this expanding field in flow cytometry.
  • Automation and Data: He has been a proponent of using programming (Python and R) to automate facility management and streamline data analysis for non-bioinformaticians.
  • Immunology: Much of his early research and clinical trial work focused on Rheumatoid Arthritis, specifically studying immune tolerance and the role of Binding Immunoglobulin Protein (BiP).
  • Educational Outreach: He maintains a YouTube channel where he shares educational videos and "virtual cards" related to flow cytometry, aimed at making complex scientific processes more accessible.
  • Member of ISAC and RMS
  • Chair of the ISAC SRL SOP Repository
  • Member of the ISAC SRL Outreach Subcommittee
  • Member of UKRI PAT SAP RTP group

RMS Flow Cytometry Award winner 2023

ISAC SRL Emerging Leader 2019-2024


We are looking for an enthusiastic person to join the flow cytometry facility in the King’s Buildings campus at the School of Biological Sciences in the University of Edinburgh. This role involves providing an efficient and reproducible cell sorting and cell analysis service to researchers using our fleet of state-of-the-art flow cytometry instrumentation.  The facility works with a diverse range of researchers including those in the plant, medical, malaria, microbiology, and chemistry research disciplines. This variety results in an enjoyable and fulfilling role and provides opportunities to expand your scientific knowledge. The candidate will preferably have experience of the operation of flow cytometers, but full training will be provided for those with a different background who can bring relevant alternative skills to the role. There will be opportunities to increase your skills and knowledge though training, conferences, and exchange programs. 

 


High speed particle sizing using an imaging flow cytometer

 

Location: University of Edinburgh
Supervised by: Christopher Hall
Duration: 6 weeks
Rate of pay: £13.55 per hour

Applications now closed for 2026

 

Project Overview

You will manage your own project to develop a novel analysis workflow. The FACSDiscover S8 imaging cell sorter cannot directly measure the size of an object.  This is because it does not use traditional microscopy optics to directly view the cell, but uses laser beamlets and photon detectors to interpolate an image from the moving cell.  This results in image variation depending upon the detector settings, laser performance, and the speed in which the cell moves through the instrument.  The project will develop a method to understand this uncertainty and to develop a reproducible method that can be used in subsequent experiments.  To complete this project, you will need to learn the operation of the instrument, be able to perform a vigorous scientific experiment, record analyse & interpret data, and most importantly, you will need to learn to effectively work with your academic and facility collaborators.

You will be provided with particles of differing sizes and fluorescent properties and you will use these to characterise how particle size and refractive index influences the instrument readings.  You will then adjust the speed and pressure of the instrument to characterise how these variables affect the results previously obtained.  A workflow will be developed to calibrate the instrument to measure size accurately and will be compared with results obtained using a fluorescent microscope.  At the end you will present your work in a group meeting and produce a poster to display at future events.


Flow Cytometry Core Facility

School of Biological Sciences

Contact details

Address

Ashworth Labs, Rooms 3.17, 3.02, 1.04
King's Buildings Campus
Charlotte Auerbach Road
Edinburgh
EH9 3FL

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