Wolfson grant enables purchase of world’s fastest scanning microscope
9 Feb 2025
Pioneering dementia research professor Roslyn Bill has welcomed the announcement of a £0.5 million grant for Aston Institute for Membrane Excellence (AIME), saying it will help accelerate her collaborative work with Oxford university colleagues.
The money provided by the Wolfson Foundation will allow the purchase of an ultrafast confocal spinning disc microscope, enabling faster completion of studies into cognitive decline.
The instrument provides faster and higher-resolution images of biological processes than currently possible with AIME’s existing equipment. It boasts a scanning speed of 2,000 frames per second, making it the fastest in the world, employing up to 1,000 laser beams as a light source.
Based at the Aston Institute, part of Aston University, it will be the only microscope of its kind in the UK outside of London, providing a boost to midlands-based science.
The award comes less than two years after Bill received €2.2 million from the European Research Council for her work analysing how movement of aquaporin-4 in brain cell membranes might help reduce the rate of cognitive decline.
She said: “I am delighted to receive this funding from the Wolfson Foundation. This microscope will allow me to strengthen my collaborative partnership with Dr Mootaz Salman at the University of Oxford, who is a collaborator on my ERC Advanced Grant, and will accelerate its scientific progress.”
Bill highlighted the role of Dan Wilkins and Christiane Dickens in the Aston University Development team for their support in securing the Wolfson funding.
Working with peers at Oxford, Bill’s AIME team is developing organ-on-a-chip formats which can be viewed under the microscope to image dynamic 3D membrane biology. Imaging the fast aquaporin-4-dependent processes at the blood-brain-barrier will allow the team to understand how they control the glymphatic clearance of proteins that cause dementia when they build up.
Wolfson Foundation chief executive Paul Ramsbottom, commented on his organisation’s award stating:
“Reducing cognitive decline in dementia and related conditions would bring huge benefits to the individuals affected, as well as for wider society and the economy. The study of aquaporins at Aston has already led to some intriguing discoveries, and we are delighted to help the university continue their important research with this grant.”
