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.

Publications

Viricidal efficacy of a 405-nm environmental decontamination system for inactivation of bacteriophage Phi6 : surrogate for SARS-CoV-2
Sinclair Lucy G, Ilieva Zornitsa, Morris Georgina, Anderson John G, MacGregor Scott J, Maclean Michelle
Photochemistry and Photobiology (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1111/php.13798
Electric field distribution and thermal effects in biological cells under PEF treatment
Song B, Timoshkin I V, Wilson M P, Maclean M, Given MJ, MacGregor SJ
15th Universities High Voltage Network Colloquium (2023)
Germicidal efficacy of 222 nm Far-UVC light for the decontamination of surfaces and liquids from common healthcare-associated pathogens
Griffin David, Maclean Michelle, Gourlay Terry
Federation of Infection Societies / Healthcare Infection Society (FIS/HIS) International Conference 2022 (2022)
Integrity & functionality assessment of antimicrobial 405-nm violet-blue light-treated prebagged human plasma stored for transfusion
Stewart Caitlin Fiona, McGoldrick Preston, MacGregor Scott, Atreya Chintamani D, Maclean Michelle
Federation of Infection Societies / Healthcare Infection Society (FIS/HIS) International Conference 2022 (2022)
Metal oxide-doped elastomeric materials for amplifying visible light-based antimicrobial activity
McShea Laura, Kambo Harjot S, Maclean Michelle, Sandison Mairi E
Materials Research Express Vol 9 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/ac8641
Visible 405 nm violet-blue light successfully inactivates HIV-1 in human plasma
Ragupathy Viswanath, Haleyurgirisetty Mohan, Dahiya Neetu, Stewart Caitlin, Anderson John, MacGregor Scott, Maclean Michelle, Hewlett Indira, Atreya Chintamani D
Pathogens Vol 11 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11070778

More publications

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 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.

Professional activities

PhD External Examiner
External Examiner
11/1/2017

More professional activities

Projects

KE Income - £366,394 (21/22): Kenall Lighting, USA [HINS-light Environmental Decontamination System]
MacGregor, Scott (Co-investigator) Maclean, Michelle (Co-investigator) Anderson, John (Co-investigator) Woolsey, Gerry (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2022
KE Income - £327 (21/22): Pinnacle Lighting, USA [HINS-light Environmental Decontamination System]
MacGregor, Scott (Co-investigator) Maclean, Michelle (Co-investigator) Anderson, John (Co-investigator) Woolsey, Gerry (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2022
KE Income - £5,000 (21/22): Linea Lighting, Italy [HINS-light Environmental Decontamination System]
MacGregor, Scott (Co-investigator) Maclean, Michelle (Co-investigator) Anderson, John (Co-investigator) Woolsey, Gerry (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2022
KE Income - £77,190 (21/22): Hubbell Lighting, USA [HINS-light Environmental Decontamination System]
MacGregor, Scott (Co-investigator) Maclean, Michelle (Co-investigator) Anderson, John (Co-investigator) Woolsey, Gerry (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2022
KE Income - £30,000 (21/22): Maltani, South Korea [HINS-light Environmental Decontamination System]
Maclean, Michelle (Co-investigator) MacGregor, Scott (Co-investigator) Anderson, John (Co-investigator) Woolsey, Gerry (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2022
Doctoral Training Partnership 2018-19 University of Strathclyde | Sinclair, Lucy
Maclean, Michelle (Principal Investigator) MacGregor, Scott (Co-investigator) Sinclair, Lucy (Research Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2019 - 01-Jan-2024

More projects

Address

Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Royal College

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