Dr Michelle Maclean

Senior Lecturer

Electronic and Electrical Engineering

Personal statement

I’m a Senior Lecturer in the Departments of Electronic & Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering.

My research is concerned with microbial infection control, and the development of novel disinfection and sterilisation technologies for public health applications, with particular focus on healthcare-associated infections (HAI) – the most frequent adverse event in health-care delivery worldwide, with hundreds of millions of patients affected annually.

My major research focus has been on the fundamental antimicrobial effects of violet-blue light and it's development as a cutting-edge decontamination technology for a range of infection control applications.

I have a highly interdisciplinary background, with a BSc in Immunology and Microbiology (2002), and a PhD focused on the interdisciplinary development of UV and visible-light for sterilisation and infection control applications (2006), which I conducted at The Robertson Trust Laboratory for Electronic Sterilisation Technologies (ROLEST), at Strathclyde. After completion of my PhD I continued my research at ROLEST where I worked as a Research Fellow. In 2014, I was appointed as a Lecturer through a Strathclyde Chancellors Fellowship, and I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2017. I have more than 70 publications, including journals, conference proceedings and presentations at scientific and medical conferences, and also have a growing IP portfolio.

Expertise

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Area of Expertise

applied microbiology
microbial inactivation
decontamination and sterilisation
infection control

Prize And Awards

Research Project of the Year: Recipient; 2011

More prizes and awards

Publications

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Publications

405 nm violet-blue light inactivates hepatitis C cell culture virus (HCVcc) in ex vivo human platelet concentrates and plasma: Jackson Joseph, Kaldhone Pravin, Stewart Caitlin Fiona, Anderson John, MacGregor Scott, Maclean Michelle, Major Marian, Atreya Chintamani; Scientific Reports Vol 14 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83171-3
Smartphone-based optical sectioning (SOS) microscopy with a telecentric design for fluorescence imaging: Jiao Ziao, Pan Mingliang, Yousaf Khadija, Doveiko Daniel, Maclean Michelle, Griffin David, Chen Yu, Li David Day Uei; Journal of Microscopy Vol 296, pp. 10-23 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.13334
The antibacterial efficacy of far-UVC light : a combined-method study exploring the effects of experimental and bacterial variables on dose-response: Griffin David T, Gourlay Terence, Maclean Michelle; Pathogens Vol 13 (2024); https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13080698
Exploring the bactericidal efficacy and biological compatibility of Far-UVC irradiation on surgical site infection-related bacteria suspended in whole blood: Griffin David, Maclean Michelle, Gourlay Terry; International Congress on Far-UVC Science and Technology (2024)
Microbial reduction of prebagged human plasma using 405nm light and its effects on coagulation factors: Stewart Caitlin F, McGoldrick Preston, Anderson John G, MacGregor Scott J, Atreya Chintamani D, Maclean Michelle; AMB Express Vol 14 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1186/s13568-024-01725-0
Human platelet concentrates treated with microbicidal 405 nm light retain hemostasis activity: Jackson Joseph W, Kaldhone Pravin R, Parunov Leonid A, Stewart Caitlin F, Anderson John G, MacGregor Scott J, Maclean Michelle, Atreya Chintamani D; Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology Vol 255, pp. 112922 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2024.112922

More publications

Teaching

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Teaching

I teach on a variety of modules in the Biomedical Engineering Department:

BE919 Research Methodology

BE428 Research Methods in Biomedical Engineering

BE207 Human Cell Biology 2

BE915 Medical Science for Engineering (Haematology and Immunology lectures)

BE101 Biomedical Engineering (sterilisation of devices lecture)

BE901 Regenerative Medicine & Tissue Engineering (sterilisation and decontamination lecture)

I also supervise a range of interdisciplinary students (EEE, BME, SIPBS) for their undergraduate and postgraduate research projects.

Research

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Research Interests

I am based in The Robertson Trust Laboratory for Electronic Sterilisation Technologies (ROLEST), in the Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, and my research is focused on the development of novel disinfection and infection control intervention technologies for public health applications, including prevention of healthcare and food/waterborne infections.

The majority of my research to date has focused on investigations into the fundamental antimicrobial effects of 405 nm high-intensity narrow-spectrum (HINS) light. Research has focused on determining antimicrobial sensitivity, wavelength sensitivity and the mechanism of inactivation. Much work has been focused on establishing the effects of this antimicrobial light against key pathogens including MRSA and Clostridium difficile, and I am involved in the investigation and development of this light technology for a range of disinfection applications.

One such example of this is the development of the HINS-light Environmental Decontamination System (EDS), a novel visible light system for continuous disinfection of occupied environments such as hospital isolation rooms. This research project was awarded the Times Higher Education Award for ‘Research Project of the Year’ in 2011.

I am also involved in the development of a number of other electro-technologies for development towards disinfection and sterilisation applications, including ultraviolet light, pulsed electric fields, oxidative corona and plasma technologies, and ozone.