Dr Michelle Maclean

Reader

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

Investigating broad-spectrum antimicrobial efficacy of antibiotic-loaded PLGA coatings: Eccles Sarah, Sherwood Emma, Maclean Michelle, McCormick Christopher; BioMedEng25 (2025)
Rifampicin elution from polymer-antibiotic coatings under flow: Eccles Sarah, Sherwood Emma, Maclean Michelle, McCormick Christopher; 47th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (2025)
In vitro rifampicin release and antimicrobial activity of biodegradable polymer coatings: Fraser Justine, Eccles Sarah, Muangsaen Hathairat, Kadam Aishwarya, Maclean Michelle, McCormick Christopher; 47th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (2025)
405 nm light microbicidal efficacy on Treponema pallidum spiked in ex vivo human platelets: Yakovleva Oksana, Pilant Teresa, Kaldhone Pravin, Jackson Joseph, Rotstein David, Stewart Caitlin, Anderson John, MacGregor Scott, Maclean Michelle, Gregori Luisa, Atreya Chintamani; Scientific Reports Vol 15 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-03230-1
A polyphenol-based hydrogel for enabling enhanced metal ion sorption, antimicrobial activity, and water remediation: Jawed Aquib, Rizvi Aiman, Çitoğlu Senem, Azeem Iqra, Maclean Michelle, Golder Animes K, Pandey Lalit M, Duran Hatice, Davidson Christine M, Lau King Hang Aaron; ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering Vol 13, pp. 7212-7222 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c01824
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

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.