
Dr Liam Rooney
Visiting Researcher
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
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Prize And Awards
- StrathWide Funding Award 2024
- Recipient
- 9/2024
- Best Talk Prize
- Recipient
- 11/2023
- Scottish Microscopist of the Year
- Recipient
- 10/2023
- StrathWide Funding Award
- Recipient
- 8/2023
- Best Talk Prize - SENSR-BIS Conference 2023
- Recipient
- 6/2023
- SULSA ECR Development Award
- Recipient
- 2/2023
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Publications
- A simple silicone elastomer colonization model highlights complexities of Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus interactions in biofilm formation
- McConnell Gail, Rooney Liam M, Sandison Mairi E, Hoskisson Paul A, Baxter Katherine J
- Journal of Medical Microbiology Vol 74 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.002047
- A 3D-printed optical microscope for low-cost histological imaging
- Christopher Jay, Craig Rebecca, McHugh Rebecca E, Roe Andrew J, Bauer Ralf, Patton Brian, McConnell Gail, Rooney Liam M
- Journal of Microscopy Vol 298, pp. 274-282 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.13398
- PerfectlyAverage : a classical open-source software method to determine the optimal averaging parameters in laser scanning fluorescence microscopy
- Foylan S, Rooney L M, Amos W B, Gould G W, McConnell G
- Journal of Microscopy Vol 299, pp. 155-165 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.13425
- Oxygen microenvironments in Escherichia coli biofilm nutrient transport channels : insights from complementary sensing approaches
- Bottura Beatrice, McConnell Gail, Florek Lindsey C, Smiley Marina K, Martin Ross, Foylan Shannan, Eana Ash, Dayton Hannah T, Eckartt Kelly N, Price-Whelan Alexa M, Hoskisson Paul A, Gould Gwyn W, Dietrich Lars EP, Rooney Liam M
- Microbiology Vol 171 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001543
- Evaluating the protective effects of Aurodox in a murine model of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli
- McHugh Rebecca E, Rooney Liam M, Mark David R, Wale Kabo R, Clapperton Megan, McConnell Gail, Hoskisson Paul A, Douce Gillian R, Roe Andrew J
- Antimicrobials and Resistance Vol 3 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44259-025-00094-3
- Optimization of specimen handling and mitochondrial analysis in patient skeletal muscle biopsies
- Wahid Maheen, MacKenzie Graeme, Rooney Liam, Combet Emilie, Gray Stuart, Murray James, Gould Gwyn, Cunningham Margaret Rose
- British Journal of Pharmacology, pp. 909 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.17399
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Professional Activities
- Open Access Optics: Low-cost 3D printed lenses for optical microscopy
- Speaker
- 9/2024
- Quantitative Imaging of Biofilm Microenvironments & New Potentials for Targeted Therapies
- Speaker
- 8/2024
- ELMI
- Organiser
- 4/6/2024
- A New Channel for Biofilm Treatment: Exploring the Potential of Biofilm Transport Channels for Drug Delivery
- Speaker
- 4/2024
- A New Channel for Biofilm Treatment: Exploring the Potential of Biofilm Transport Channels for Drug Delivery
- Speaker
- 4/2024
- Sensing Oxygen Concentrations in Biofilms: A route towards targeted biofilm therapies
- Speaker
- 4/11/2023
Projects
- Revolutionising Pharmacology Education - Designing a Low-Cost Human Body-on-a-Chip Laboratory for Multi-Level Learning
- Cunningham, Margaret Rose (Principal Investigator) Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator) Monachan, Nikki (CoPI) Coubrough, Katie (CoPI) Wahid, Maheen (CoPI) Tinto, Kirsty (CoPI) Glendinning, Nicola (Co-investigator) Keegan, Joe (Co-investigator) Panelli, Fiona (Co-investigator) Palin, Fiona (Co-investigator) Thompson, Crystal (Co-investigator) Essex, Jane (Co-investigator) Hendry, Pauline (Co-investigator)
- This education research project is funded by British Pharmacological Society to establish links with Vale of Leven Academy & Lennox Primary (West Dunbartonshire) and Queen Margaret Academy Supported Learning Centre (Ayr) to support student-led STEM Learning on the topic of Pharmacology.
This project involves staff and students across all levels of learning from primary school, secondary school, undergraduate to postgraduate higher education.
The project will use a combination of approaches such as 3D printing technology to address biomedical questions related to 'Space Medicine'. Twenty-two students (S4-S6) from Vale of Leven Academy (VOLA) will support the space-themed STEM activity design as they will go to NASA (Houston) as part of school-organised education trip in June 2025. - 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2025
- A single-step laser fabrication approach to create antimicrobial surfaces for high-value medical devices
- Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator) Liu, Qi (Principal Investigator)
- In response to the growing prevalence of healthcare-associated infections and the increasing resistance to antibiotics, there is an urgent need for antimicrobial-coated medical devices. Silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are widely recognised for their potent antibacterial properties, making them a prime candidate for such applications. However, current physical and chemical synthesis methods for AgNP are costly, time-consuming and pollutive. We aimed to develop a new single-step fabrication approach to generate AgNP-coated antimicrobial microstructure surfaces, using hybridising subtractive laser ablation and additive chemical deposition processes. The microstructures generated by this technique were investigated to understand their role in potentiating the antimicrobial activity of functionalised surfaces. This project provided a cost-effective and sustainable process to enhance the safety and functionality of medical devices prone to biofouling, such as surgical tools and implants.
- 01-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2025
- Fluorescent Drugs for Difficult Bugs: Quantitative Imagin of Fluorescent Antibiotics to Track Antibiotic Uptake and Resistance in Biofilms
- Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator) McConnell, Gail (Co-investigator)
- 10-Jan-2024 - 28-Jan-2025
- High-precision chemical mapping in biofilm transport channels to inform better therapies
- Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator) Dietrich, Lars (Co-investigator)
- Biofilms are microbial communities linked to over 80% of infections and exhibit remarkable antimicrobial tolerance. We have developed advanced microscopy methods to visualise multi-millimetre-scale biofilms with sub-cellular resolution, providing unique cross-scale 3D overviews. We identified networks of nutrient transport channels and aim to exploit them using targeted biofilm therapeutics. However, we must understand the channel chemical microenvironment to inform new treatments. We present a dual-pronged approach to quantify the oxygen concentration throughout biofilm channel networks using high-resolution oxygen profiling and fluorescent oxygen-nanosensor imaging. These insights will inform the design of a new class of antimicrobial therapeutics to tackle recalcitrant biofilm infections.
- 13-Jan-2023 - 13-Jan-2024
- Surface characterisation of 3D printed lenses for microscopy
- Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator)
- We developed a method to 3D print transparent lenses for use in optical instrumentation, with the aim of democratising access to bespoke optics for prototyping and use in low-resource settings. We required a method to accurately calculate the surface curvature, smoothness, and quality in order to determine if our 3D-printed lenses were a viable alternative to their expensive glass counterparts.
We developed, optimised, and applied a super-resolution optical interference method to image the surface of our printed lenses and quantify their curvature and surface quality. This method was implemented with a variety of printed optical elements to assure the quality of and reproducibility of 3D printed optics. - 13-Jan-2022 - 01-Jan-2022
- Optical methods to measure antibiotic production by Streptomycetes
- Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator) Schniete, Jana Katharina (Principal Investigator)
- The genus of bacteria, Streptomyces, produces around 70% of clinically relevant antibiotics in use today. They evolved the ability to secrete these chemical weapons into their local environment to ward off competing microbes and to signal over extended distances. However, understanding and quantifying the secretion of antibiotics directly from the cells into their environment is challenging.
We developed a method based on combining routine confocal fluorescence imaging with standing wave fluorescence microscopy and interference reflection microscopy to measure the volume of extracellular matrix secreted by live streptomycetes in situ. Our method was able to accurately measure the 3D volume of matrix around individual hyphae thanks to a five-fold axial resolution improvement compared to confocal microscopy alone and has translational applications for the study of extracellular matrix and antibiotic production with minimal perturbation to the bacterial cells. - 07-Jan-2018 - 10-Jan-2018
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Contact
Dr
Liam
Rooney
Visiting Researcher
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
Email: liam.rooney@strath.ac.uk
Tel: Unlisted