Dr Tim Hawkins

Head of Bioimaging

Affiliations
Affiliation	Telephone
Head of Bioimaging in the Department of Biosciences	+44 (0) 191 33 41333

Biography

Bioimager | Industrial Collaborator | Passionate about Technology, Teaching and Engagement.

I’m a cell biologist and am Head of the core Bioimaging facility in the Department of Biosciences. I am also Deputy Director of the Durham Centre for Bioimaging Technology and the outreach co-ordinator for Biosciences.

Twitter: @BioimagingDurh1

Research Interests

My Research interests involve the use of a wide variety of imaging techniques to study 1) the cytoskeleton of plant and animal cells 2) the accessory proteins which control their dynamics and organisation and 3) their role in cell division, morphology and response to mechanical stress.

Some current projects

Characterisation of members of the NET family of plant actin binding proteins which link the actin cytoskeleton to district membrane compartments (with Prof Hussey).
Algae cell biology and the evolution of division arrays using the model O. tauri.
Development of new imaging methodologies in particular for plant cells and tissues.
Cell biology of Keratin associated proteins.
Collaborations with industrial partners to develop new imaging approaches to help screen and understand their products and the fundamental biology behind them.
Combining high-resolution imaging with mechanical manipulation and modelling in both animal and plants cells - As part of this programme we are developing a microscope-mountable mechanical platform for the precise controlled stretching/compression and high resolution imaging of elastic materials, cells and tissues. The mechanical platform incorporates high specification linear platforms (Zaber) and ISA miniature s-beam force transducers coupled with an FT-111 indicator for accurate stretching and force measurements respectively (flintec)