Julie Macpherson
2003 Young Investigator Award

 
Julie Macpherson has been a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK since 1999 and has held a parallel faculty position since 2000. She received her PhD in Chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Pat Unwin. In earlier studies her research focused on the development of the scanning electrochemical microscope (SECM), with particular emphasis on the understanding of dissolution phenomena at the microscopic level. Her postdoctoral work  involved the establishment of novel hydrodynamic microelectrode techniques, in order to facilitate the investigation of fast heterogeneous electron transfer reactions and the trace level detection of analytes. In particular, she pioneered the development of the microjet electrode and the radial flow microring electrode. 

Since taking up her research fellowship, Julie’s work has focused on the development of high resolution imaging techniques. In particular, she has developed procedures for the fabrication of nanometre-sized electrodes for electrochemical imaging and dual functionality SECM-atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes for simultaneous electrical or electrochemical and topographical imaging. This technology has been applied to biomedical and materials related problems. Recent work has seen the use of electrically contacted single walled carbon nanotube –AFM probes for ultra-high resolution studies.

Julie received Molecular Imaging’s Scanned Probe Microscopist Award in 1999 and holds grants for her research programme in the UK from the EPSRC, the Wellcome Trust, Unilever, Syngenta and Avecia.