Barry Moran
Dr Barry Moran is head of flow cytometry in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI), in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He attained an MSc from the University of Glasgow (Medical Genetics) and a PhD from Trinity College Dublin (Immunology). He began to develop his cytometry expertise in the Scripps Research Institute and UCSD in San Diego before returning to Ireland to take up his current post in 2005. He is heavily involved with the flow community in Ireland and internationally, directing the Cytometry Society of Ireland and sitting on the flow cytometry committee of the Royal Microscopical Society. The state-of-the-art Flow Cytometry Facility in TBSI is the best-equipped cytometry suite in Ireland, with three high-end platforms (FACSAria Fusion cell sorter, ImageStream X Mark II imaging cytometer & Cytek Aurora full-spectrum analyser) and 4 flow cytometer analysers. Serving over 100 research groups, the facility has ~200 regular users. As manager of a busy cytometry facility, Barry has extensive expertise in most cytometry applications, with particular proficiency in designing and applying high-parameter cytometry panels to elucidate immune cell function, particularly in the area of autoimmunity.
Articles by Barry Moran
The idea of accessing one computer from another is long established. Unfortunately, we often have visions of hackers sneaking in and stealing our data when we have most to lose. However, this type of technology can aid us in a lot of applications and to those of us who work in cytometry the benefits are (somewhat) clear. No More ‘Fail’ Moments Many researchers know the dread of…
A new lab toy to make it big in the last 5–10 years is the Accuri C6 cytometer (now under the BD umbrella), a low-cost instrument in comparison to the big boys. Lightweight, with a small footprint and straightforward maintenance, it’s often the cytometer of choice. It may be suitable for those labs that require…
Generally, once you’ve acquired your samples on a cytometer, the hard (but hopefully fun!) part of making sense of all the data begins. This can be increasingly complex depending on the number of cells, populations, parameters, and combinations. So where we use the dedicated software aligned to the analyser for acquisition, we frequently use alternative…
Figuring out what’s what When studying cells and cell subsets (and cell sub-subsets, and so on!!) we need ways to identify and classify every single cell. This will allow us to individually analyse each population and, for example, help to discover their role in health and disease. A principal way we do this is by looking…
Cytokines, those small proteins that modulate immune cell responses, once translated are normally secreted rapidly out of the cell. So, previously we could only check the levels of cytokines secreted in the supernatant, but we wouldn’t know which cell was producing which cytokine. But what if we had a way to keep the cytokines inside the cell? Then we…
So having read our article on how a cytometer works, surely the next question is ‘what’s the right flow cytometer for me?!’ Basic Components of Flow Cytometers We know that at their most basic level, cytometers are made up of 3 main components: A fluidics system to transport and focus the cells past an…