Our science in focus
Single-molecule localization, super-resolution imaging, and structural biology at the nanoscale.
Using single-molecule and super-resolution microscopy to reveal the atomic mechanisms of Alzheimer's, cancer, and neurodegeneration—bridging fundamental physics to clinical insight.
Single-molecule localization, super-resolution imaging, and structural biology at the nanoscale.
From instrumentation to discovery—we develop the tools and apply them to the hardest biological questions.
Development and application of single-molecule localization microscopy to characterize protein aggregates and biological structures at nanoscale resolution. We resolve individual molecules in disease-relevant samples.
High-resolution imaging of disease-relevant molecules such as tau and amyloid-beta aggregates in human samples, including quantitative structural analysis via ASAP software.
Design and build of cost-efficient, high-throughput single-molecule localization microscopes, with published protocols for wider scientific adoption.
In-house software tools for quantitative analysis of super-resolved microscopy data and biological structures.
Investigating molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease, amyloid-beta, tau, ApoE interactions, and mitochondrial DNA-mediated inflammation via BAX/BAK pore dynamics.
Danial's Lab is led by MRC Career Development Fellow John Danial, a DPhil graduate from Oxford with postdoctoral experience at Cambridge and the University of Tübingen. We are a multi-disciplinary team of physicists, chemists, engineers, and software developers based in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of St Andrews. Our mission is to apply single-molecule biophysics directly to clinically urgent problems—particularly Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and neurodegeneration. We publish in top-tier journals including Nature Communications, Nature Methods, Nature Protocols, PNAS, and Molecular Cell. We collaborate with world-renowned scientists including Sir David Klenerman FRS and Jeremy Baumberg FRS. Beyond research, we publish open protocols and build cost-efficient microscopes to democratize super-resolution imaging across the scientific community.
Our work on tau aggregates in human Alzheimer's samples was published in Angewandte Chemie and has become a reference for structural characterization at the single-molecule level.
Whether you're interested in joint research, microscope development, or exploring new applications of single-molecule imaging—we'd like to hear from you.
Contact the labReach out with research inquiries, collaboration proposals, or questions about our work.
Address
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9SS, United Kingdom