Ian Johnston is an Associate Professor in the School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Hertfordshire (UH). He obtained his degree in Physics from the University of Leeds and his PhD in microfluidic systems for blood cell analysis from the University of Hertfordshire. He was central in the establishment of the facilities for microfluidic rapid prototyping at UH.

Ian leads the Microfluidics and Microengineering Research Group and is also Director of the Centre for Research in Biodetection Technologies, a multidisciplinary research centre concerned with real-time monitoring, sampling, and analysis of waterborne and airborne pathogens for protection of human health.

He has over 25 years of experience leading multi-partner, multi-disciplinary lab-on-a-chip projects focussing on applied microfluidic technologies and integrated automated systems for use in bioscience applications. His work focusses on applied research and development for delivery of tangible prototype devices and systems for commercial and government organisations. His areas of expertise span continuous flow microfluidics, and digital droplet microfluidics for cell handling and identification.

His current research focuses on microfluidic techniques for application areas including EWOD sample recovery and LAMP diagnostics with EWOD for healthcare and biowarfare, too cell identification and sorting for food security and crop protection.

Ellis Smith PhD Student, University of Strathclyde graduated in 2018 from the University of Glasgow, with a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering. She is currently pursuing a 4-year PhD in microfluidics at the University of Strathclyde, investigating the mechanisms causing abnormal proliferation of vascular cells and the cell sub-populations involved. The aim of her project is to develop a new methodology to continuously track the functional changes that individual vascular cells undergo in response to various stimuli and drug treatments.