Women in AFM (4) — NuNano AFM Probes

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Joanna Evangelides

Dr Mikhail Trought

Mikhail Trought is a research scientist at Ford Advanced Engineering and Research Organization at Ford Motor Company in Michigan, USA. Her research focuses on unraveling battery-related mechanisms, improving the robustness of automotive interfacial systems through surface activation, and automotive surface characterization method development using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM is one of the most versatile tools that I currently have in my toolbox. AFM has the ability to measure a variety of mechanical, physical and chemical properties of a wide variety of samples in atmosphere or in a liquid environment. As a scientist in the automotive industry, where my research encompasses a wide range of samples, AFM has proven to be invaluable in bridging the gap between the physical and chemical properties of  automotive systems. 

 

Mikhail Trought

 

Recent AFM-related papers:

Biography: Mikhail was born and raised in Manchester, Jamaica W.I. She received her B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, USA (2016) with a Chemistry major and a Chinese minor. Subsequently, she completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the Michigan Technological University in Michigan, USA (2021). In her doctoral work, she studied surface engineering of 2D materials using atomic layer deposition (ALD) and investigated iron oxidation at the gas/solid and liquid/solid interfaces at the microscale, under low pressures (ultra-high vacuum) and ambient pressures (atmospheric) conditions.

LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/mikhail-trought-ph-d-399058b0

Are you a woman conducting AFM research or know of someone you would like to nominate to be featured in our next #WomenInAFM campaign? Contact us at community@nunano.com!

Elodie Lafargue

I have always been fascinated by the microscopic world. From high school, I steered my academic path toward laboratory sciences, and this passion has only deepened throughout my studies and research. My interest has particularly focused on the intricate interactions between membrane proteins and lipids. And what has always drawn me to microscopy is its unique ability to let us “see” what we study. During my master's internships and later my PhD, I discovered High-Speed AFM (HS-AFM), and it was a revelation. More than just a tool, this technique has become essential to the research I aspire to conduct, the one that excites and inspires me the most. I also had the opportunity to popularize and share this passion with the general public and schools through a program offered by Aix-Marseille University.

Today, I am pursuing this way as a postdoctoral researcher in Ancona, Italy. I chose to continue working with HS-AFM to investigate the mechanisms of a transporter involved in the central nervous system. This deliberate choice to deepen my expertise with the same technique reflects my conviction that its potential remains vast and that each new image holds the promise of uncovering an unseen facet of life.

 

Elodie Lafargue

 

Papers under revision:

BlueSky: @elodie-lafargue.bsky.social

X: @elodie_lafargue

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elodie-lafargue-a02309142

Are you a woman conducting AFM research or know of someone you would like to nominate to be featured in our next #WomenInAFM campaign? Contact us at community@nunano.com!

Dr Lydia C Powell

Lydia is a lecturer in the Microbiology and Infectious Disease Group at Swansea University Medical School. Lydia’s research, bridging engineering and biomedical sciences, uses atomic force microscopy to advance the biophysical understanding of complex 3D multicellular aggregates, such as bacterial biofilm structures and ovarian cancer spheroids. Lydia has translated this understanding into the design and delivery of new therapies for cystic fibrosis and chronic wound biofilm-related infections, where this research has informed the patenting and progression of novel anti-biofilm therapeutics into clinical trials (AlgiPharma AS and Qbiotics). Furthermore, Lydia investigates the impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on biofilm dynamics, aiming to identify new therapeutic targets and pathways essential for developing effective treatments to combat AMR-related biofilm infections.

 

Lydia Powell

 

Recent AFM-related papers:

Biography: Lydia achieved a MEng in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (1st class; 2005) and a MRes in Nanotechnology (2006), before completing a PhD in Biochemical Engineering (2011) at Swansea University.

In 2011, Lydia began her postdoctoral research career at Cardiff University, based at the University Hospital of Wales, investigating the use of novel antimicrobial agents to treat bacterial biofilm-related infections. In 2018, Lydia returned to Swansea University to characterise the effect of novel epigenetic and antibody-drug conjugate therapeutics on ovarian cancer 3D cell models.  In 2022, Lydia became a Lecturer in Microbiology and Infectious disease within Swansea University and also holds an Honorary Lectureship position in Cardiff University.

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lydia-Powell-2

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydia-powell-15732986/

Webpage: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/staff/l.c.powell/

Are you a woman conducting AFM research or know of someone you would like to nominate to be featured in our next #WomenInAFM campaign? Contact us at community@nunano.com!

Dr Ilka Hermes

Ilka Hermes is a research group leader at the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research in Dresden, Germany. Her group focuses on electrical AFM techniques and correlated optical spectroscopy to investigate how microstructural features - such as grain boundaries or heterointerfaces - affect the charge carrier transport in optoelectronic materials. By combining conductive AFM and Kelvin Probe AFM with in-situ illumination, her group gains nanoscale insights into transport barriers and local electronic variations caused by defects or dopants. These insights are crucial for the understanding and improvement of light absorbers for solar cell applications, as well as emerging synthetic two-dimensional materials for next-generation optoelectronics. For the latter in particular, correlated optical spectroscopy complements AFM measurements by revealing excitonic transport phenomena, which are invisible to Kelvin Probe AFM.

In addition to her own research, Ilka Hermes serves as scientific head of the institute's AFM laboratory, overseeing a wide range of applications - from high-resolution imaging of DNA molecules to the nanomechanical characterisation of polymer blends.

 

Ilka Hermes

 

Recent AFM-related papers:

Biography: Ilka Hermes studied chemistry at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and began her work on AFM in 2013 by invesigating the arrangement of water molecules on mineral surfaces. For her doctoral work, she joined the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, where she employed electrical and electromechanical AFM techniques and correlated photoluminescence spectroscopy to study how various structural interfaces influence charge carrier transport in perovskite solar cells. Following her practical PhD research, she spent three years in industry as Principal Scientist at the AFM manufacturer Park Systems Europe GmbH. In 2022, Ilka established a junior research group focused on advanced correlative AFM at the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research in Dresden.

Are you a woman conducting AFM research or know of someone you would like to nominate to be featured in our next #WomenInAFM campaign? Contact us at community@nunano.com!

Sarah Stainer

Sarah Stainer is a PhD student at the Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU) and is currently finishing her thesis on real-time visualization of highly mobile proteins using high-speed AFM (HS-AFM). During her PhD, she specialized in the imaging of highly mobile proteins, studying their flexibility and conformational changes. She has always been fascinated by the complex workings of cells and wanted to understand their mechanisms at the molecular level. HS-AFM fascinates her because you can observe very small biological samples such as proteins and DNA and watch their movement in real time. Resolving the features of flexible domains can be challenging using conventional structural determination techniques. HS-AFM can add new information about dynamics and flexibility to protein structures that would otherwise be described by a static representation.

 

Sarah Stainer

 

Recent AFM-related papers:

Biography: Sarah grew up in Salzburg, Austria and studied Molecular Biology in a joint program at the Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg and the Johannes Kepler University of Linz. She was introduced to AFM during her master thesis at the Johannes Kepler University, where she studied the surface pattern of rhesus factor membrane proteins on erythrocyte cells using Topography and Recognition Imaging (TREC). During her master thesis, she applied for a PhD position at JKU and joined the Applied Experimental Biophysics group, specializing in Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy (SMFS), Topography and Recognition Imaging (TREC) and High-Speed AFM (HS-AFM). She spent half a year abroad in Japan as a research visitor to deepen her knowledge in HS-AFM.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-stainer-b1473b142

Webpage: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah-Stainer

Are you a woman conducting AFM research or know of someone you would like to nominate to be featured in our next #WomenInAFM campaign? Contact us at community@nunano.com!

Prof Kerstin Blank

Kerstin Blank is a Professor at the Institute of Experimental Physics at Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria, where she leads the Division of Biomolecular and Selforganizing Matter. Originally trained as a protein biochemist, she was introduced to atomic force microscopy (AFM) during her PhD in Hermann Gaub’s lab at Ludwig Maximilian University Munich. Since then, she has been fascinated by the intricate relationship between protein structure and mechanics.

Her current research focuses on the mechanical properties of structural proteins that form biological materials. Using these proteins as blueprints, she designs mechanoresponsive nanomechanical building blocks. A major focus is the de novo engineering of coiled coils and their mechanical characterization via single-molecule force spectroscopy. Integrating additional functionalities, such as optical readouts of their molecular state, she employs these coiled coils as molecular force sensors and as mechanoresponsive elements in smart hydrogels. These tools provide new insights into mechanical signaling at cell-material interfaces, both in 2D and 3D cell culture environments.

 

Kerstin Blank - Photo Credit: Sabine Starmayr

 

Recent AFM-related publications:

Biography: Kerstin Blank received her PhD in Biophysics from Ludwig Maximilian University Munich in 2006. After brief postdoctoral stays in Strasbourg and Leuven, she became an assistant professor at Radboud University Nijmegen in 2009. In 2014, she joined the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, where she led the Max Planck Research Group Mechano(bio)chemistry. Since October 2021, she has been a full professor at Johannes Kepler University. Kerstin Blank co-founded and chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Multiscale Mechanochemistry & Mechanobiology. Since 2022, she has served as (deputy) speaker of the Biological Physics section of the German Physical Society. She is also a member of the editorial board of RSC Mechanochemistry.

Website: www.jku.at/biom

LinkedIn: https://at.linkedin.com/in/kerstin-blank-b294269

Are you a woman conducting AFM research or know of someone you would like to nominate to be featured in our next #WomenInAFM campaign? Contact us at community@nunano.com!

Alyona (Olena) Yedelkina

Alyona (Olena) Yedelkina is a Ph.D. student in Dr. Antonio Benedetto’s NanoBioPhysics lab at University College Dublin, Ireland. Her research explores the interactions between ionic liquids (ILs) and cell membranes using atomic force microscopy (AFM), neutron scattering, and other biophysical techniques.

Working with synthetic lipid bilayers of varying complexity, she investigates how ILs influence membrane properties. Through AFM, she examines structural changes and mechanical responses to better understand IL effects at the nanoscale. Collaborating with her research group, she aims to correlate IL-induced changes in cell metabolism and mechanics with the mechanical and structural data obtained from membranes. Alyona hopes her research will lead to a better understanding of cell membrane biophysics and pave the way for IL applications in nanotechnology and medicine.

 

Alyona (Olena) Yedelkina

 

Biography: Alyona’s journey into biophysics began in 2019 in Slovakia, where she earned a degree in Biophysics at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University and conducted research on protein molecular properties and interactions at the Center for Interdisciplinary Biosciences in Košice. During this time, she gained experience with a variety of biological assays and biophysical techniques, studying enzyme activity, stability, and aggregation under different physical conditions. In 2022, Alyona moved to Dublin to join Dr. Antonio Benedetto’s research group at University College Dublin. Since starting her Ph.D., her focus has shifted to the biophysics of cellular membranes, with atomic force microscopy (AFM) becoming her primary technique. She now uses AFM, along with neutron scattering and other biophysical approaches, to investigate the interactions between ionic liquids and biological membranes.


X: @AYedelkina

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyona-yedelkina-147b92328/

Website: https://www.antoniobenedetto.eu/Members/

Are you a woman conducting AFM research or know of someone you would like to nominate to be featured in our next #WomenInAFM campaign? Contact us at community@nunano.com!

Dr Georgina Benn

Georgina Benn is a Wellcome Trust Early Career Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford. She works in the group of Prof Colin Kleanthous, studying the organisation of the bacterial outer membrane. Georgina uses AFM to get high-resolution topography images of the surfaces of live E. coli. Georgina finds AFM is a great technique for this work as it enables the team to look at where proteins are relative to each other and relative to the whole cell. They use this information to see how this arrangement changes as cells grow, divide and die. Georgina combines this with microbiology and genetics to try to understand how the outer membrane is such an effective barrier to external toxins, hopefully finding ways others can exploit it in the design of new antibiotics.

 

Georgina Benn

 

Recent AFM-related publications:

Biography: Georgina grew up in the UK and studied Biochemistry at King’s College London. She says: “I’ve always been interested in how biology fits together spatially. So, when I started my Biophysics PhD in Prof Hoogenboom’s lab at University College London, I really enjoyed using AFM to ask biological questions that cannot be answered by other techniques.” After her PhD Georgina had a great time doing a postdoc in molecular biology at Princeton University with Prof Silhavy. She is now combining the skills she learnt during her PhD and postdoc in Oxford, to try to improve our understanding of the bacterial outer membrane.

Webpage: https://benngeorgina.wordpress.com/

Are you a woman conducting AFM research or know of someone you would like to nominate to be featured in our next #WomenInAFM campaign? Contact us at community@nunano.com!

Dr Lorena Redondo Morata

Lorena Redondo Morata is a researcher at the DyNaMo U1325 laboratory at Aix-Marseille Université & INSERM in Marseille, France. Her research focuses on understanding membrane remodeling processes and how proteins and lipids drive membrane dynamics, including deformation, fusion, and fission. These biological processes often occur on timescales ranging from sub-seconds to minutes.

What excites Lorena most about atomic force microscopy (AFM) is its unique ability to explore structure, mechanics, and dynamics in a controlled environment without the need for labeling. Given the inherent complexity of cell membranes, her research strategy centers on developing model membrane systems that mimic cellular membranes with controllable complexity.

Currently, Lorena's research is dedicated to investigating the mechanics and dynamics of cell membrane remodeling using AFM and correlative microscopy techniques. Her key research interests include studying the nanomechanics of membrane disruptors, such as antimicrobial peptides and surfactants, as well as exploring extracellular vesicles and the dynamics of lipid nanodomains, particularly in the context of membrane fusion and remodeling processes.

 

Lorena Redond Morata

 

Recent papers:

Biography: Lorena obtained her PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Barcelona, Spain, in collaboration with the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, focusing on lipid bilayer nanomechanics using AFM-based force spectroscopy. After earning her PhD in 2012 under the supervision of Fausto Sanz, she joined Simon Scheuring’s lab at Inserm in Marseille to study biomembrane dynamics with High-Speed AFM. Awarded the Young Researcher Prize by the Spanish Biophysical Society in 2016, she became an Inserm researcher at the Institut Pasteur in Lille in 2018. In 2024, she relocated her laboratory to the DyNaMo Inserm unit in Marseille, where she focuses her research on lipid membrane nanomechanics and the dynamics of lipid nanodomains in the context of membrane fusion or other remodeling processes.

BlueSky: @lorenaredondo.bsky.social

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorena-redondo-morata-06a89051/

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/fm4b-lab/home?authuser=0

Are you a woman conducting AFM research or know of someone you would like to nominate to be featured in our next #WomenInAFM campaign? Contact us at community@nunano.com!

Aysha Riaz

Aysha Riaz is a final year PhD student in the Department of Chemistry at University College London. She works in the group of Prof Anna Regoutz, investigating sol-gel derived transparent conducting oxide (TCO) thin films. She uses AFM to study the surface morphology and film uniformity to link changes in solution chemistry with film properties to optimise film deposition. Additionally, obtaining information on film roughness helps to understand resulting electrical properties.

Aysha often uses AFM in combination with other surface-sensitive techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to correlate structure, chemistry, electronic structure and material properties more broadly. She has also collected AFM images on many other samples as part of collaborative projects from 2D materials to dinosaur fossils, enjoying the versatility and beautiful images the technique delivers.

 

Aysha Riaz

 

Recent AFM-related papers:

Biography: In 2021 Aysha completed her MChem at University of Southampton before moving the same year to University College London to start her PhD in Chemistry under the supervision of Prof Anna Regoutz. She worked on metal oxide thin films predominantly but had the opportunity to collaborate on a variety of other projects, including a placement at the Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics in Berlin, Germany and an internship with the RSC. She has now moved to the University of Oxford alongside her supervisor to work as a research assistant whilst completing her thesis.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aysha-riaz-57644621a/

Webpage: https://a-x-s.org/group/

Are you a woman conducting AFM research or know of someone you would like to nominate to be featured in our next #WomenInAFM campaign? Contact us at community@nunano.com!

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