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Tim has always had a keen interest in imaging techniques and their use in studying embryo development. Methods that allow three-dimensional modelling are particularly important for his research and he has worked on several of these, such as OPT (optical projection tomography) and EFIC (episcopic fluorescent image capture), from their infancy. HREM (high-resolution episcopic microscopy) is a new technique, developed in collaboration with Wolfgang Weninger (University of Vienna), which Tim currently uses to study intricate details of early heart development in model organisms such as mouse, chicken and frog embryos.
He explains: "The heart develops from what is essentially a simple linear beating tube into a complicated multi-chambered organ with valves separating the chambers and controlling the flow of blood; this a very complicated change and is one that occurs in three dimensions, therefore reconstructing accurate three-dimensional models is a powerful tool in assisting our understanding of heart development." Tim is a senior scientist at the Medical Research Council (MRC) National Institute for Medical Research and a member of the Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board of the MRC.
To find out more about Tim's image, click on the thumbnail below.