Lucy Collinson is a microbiologist and electron microscopist at the

Francis Crick Institute The Francis Crick Institute (formerly the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation) is a biomedical research centre in London, which was established in 2010 and opened in 2016. The institute is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, Im ...

, a biomedical research centre in London. She was previously the head of electron microscopy at the

London Research Institute The Cancer Research UK London Research Institute (LRI) was a biological research facility which conducted research into the basic biology of cancer. The LRI officially became a part of the Francis Crick Institute ("the Crick") in April 2015, res ...

Life and career

In 1998, Collinson received a PhD in

molecular microbiology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. Though cells and other microsco ...

from the

Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal ...

of the

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

, supervised by Mike Curtis. She became interested in electron microscopy towards the end of her PhD, after the excitement of seeing the bacteria after years of studying bacterial protein bands on gels. That same year, she became a postdoctoral research assistant at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

and

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, working with Colin Hopkins. In 2004, Collinson became the head of electron microscopy at a molecular cell biology laboratory at University College London. In 2006, Collinson became the head of electron microscopy at the Cancer Research UK

. In 2013, she collaborated with a team of researchers at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

on a large collaborative grant to the UK Medical Research Council to purchase a new type of combined electron and light microscope. In 2015, when the London Research Unit became part of the

, she became the head of electron microscopy there. In her role as head of that effort she is involved in many collaborative projects, publishing on a range of topics. In 2019, Collinson co-edited ''Correlative Imaging: Focusing on the Future'' with Paul Verkade, which was published by Wiley. She guest edited a volume of ''

Journal of Cell Science The ''Journal of Cell Science'' (formerly the ''Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of cell biology. The journal is published by The Company of Biologists. The journal is partnered with P ...

'' with Guillaume Jacquemet. In 2024 she received the Distinguished Scientist Award in biological sciences from the

Microscopy Society of America The Microscopy Society of America (MSA), founded in 1942 as The Electron Microscope Society of America, is a non-profit organization that provides microanalytical facilities for studies within the sciences. Currently, there are approximately 3000 me ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collinson, Lucy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century British scientists Alumni of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry British microbiologists Electron microscopy Microscopists Place of birth missing (living people)