Wickham builds DNA origami nanostructures — programmable, self-assembling scaffolds with nanometre-precision addressability — and uses them as molecular machines, drug-delivery vehicles and, most relevantly, as rulers and probes for single-molecule measurement. DNA origami is the standard platform for DNA-PAINT super-resolution and for positioning fluorophores, nanoparticles or spin labels at defined separations, and her group works on dynamic, reconfigurable devices that respond to biological triggers. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work — DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity — DNA origami is the leading candidate technology for positioning target molecules at a controlled standoff from a near-surface NV ensemble, which is the central geometric problem in pushing NV nanoscale NMR and DEER from pT/sqrt(Hz) ensembles down to single-molecule sensitivity. Genuinely complementary skill set for a quantum-sensing candidate.
Winpenny holds the Regius Chair in Chemistry at Manchester and is a world leader in molecular magnetism and molecular nanomagnets for quantum technologies. Research directions: (1) Molecular nanomagnets — synthesis of Cr7Ni 'horseshoe' rings and related cage clusters as prototype molecular qubits with long T2 times; (2) Multi-qubit molecular architectures — covalently linked molecular qubit pairs and arrays for quantum gate operations and distributed sensing; (3) Quantum error correction in molecules — designing molecular systems encoding logical qubits with error protection; (4) Quantum sensing applications — molecular spin systems as ultra-sensitive nanoscale magnetic sensors in the sub-nm regime. Leading the NPL M4Q Network and UK molecular qubit community.
Xu develops STORM and related single-molecule-localization super-resolution imaging methods, along with new fluorogenic and multiplexed labeling strategies, to visualize cellular ultrastructure at ~10-20 nm resolution. The group is actively recruiting postdocs.
Yakovlev develops label-free biomedical imaging: Brillouin micro-spectroscopy of cell/tissue viscoelasticity, impulsive stimulated Brillouin scattering, SERS and coherent-Raman diagnostics, and quantum-enhanced (photon-number-resolving, sub-shot-noise) optical imaging in collaboration with Agarwal/Scully. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work provides the biomedical, quantum-enhanced-imaging bridge for spin-sensor bio-applications.
Develops nanophotonic optical biosensors and spectral bioimaging techniques (metasurface/photonic-crystal based) for label-free, high-sensitivity molecular detection.
Yildiz uses nanometer-precision single-molecule fluorescence and optical/magnetic tweezers (FIONA-type localization) to resolve the stepping mechanisms of cytoskeletal motor proteins such as myosin, kinesin, and dynein in living cells.
Zhang's lab develops two core optical technologies: spectroscopic single-molecule localization microscopy (sSMLM), which multiplexes emission-spectrum measurement with single-molecule localization to reach ~5 nm spatial resolution, and visible-light optical coherence tomography (vis-OCT), which exploits higher tissue contrast at visible wavelengths for micron-scale retinal and tumor-vasculature imaging in patients. Applications span cancer nanopathology and ophthalmology, including in-vivo human retinal oximetry.
Zheltikov integrates NV-diamond magnetometry into photonic-crystal fibers for high-resolution, fiber-delivered magnetic-field imaging and endoscopy, alongside ultrafast biophotonics (multiphoton deep-tissue imaging, SWIR probes) and quantum-light molecular spectroscopy. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work extends NV ensemble sensing into fiberized, in-vivo-compatible geometries.
Zhuang invented STORM super-resolution microscopy and MERFISH multiplexed spatial transcriptomics, and her lab continues to push single-molecule and multiplexed imaging techniques (e.g. a recent whole-olfactory-system map) to resolve cellular structures and RNA populations at nanometer-to-single-molecule resolution, well beyond the diffraction limit.