Dr Jessica Mansfield

Current Position:

I am the senior experimental officer responisble for looking after the CONTRAST facility directed by Professor Julian Moger. In this role I support both internal and external researchers who would like to use Coherent Raman Scattering Microscopy to enhance their research.

Previous Role:

Previously I worked as research fellow in the Biomedical physics research group with Professor Peter Winlove on an Arthritis Research UK funded project

“Microscale mechanics and chemistry of articular cartilage: relationships to in vivo loading and susceptibility to degeneration”

Here we used a unique combination of multiphoton microscopy and mechanical loading to understand how the relationship between the cartilage microstructure and its mechanical properties. This research involved bespoke mechanical testing rigs designed to fit on-to the stage of our multiphoton microscope. Two photon fluorescnece (TPF) was used to track the deformations of elastin fibres and cells within the tissue under progressive loads. Polarization sensitive Second Harmonic Generation P-SHG measurements were used to investigate the collagen fibre organisation in cartilage at a submicron level and how this changed with loading.

Raman micro-spectrometry, was used to map the variations in chemical composition within the articular cartilage on a microscopic scale. This enabled us to investigate the unique chemical composition of the pericellular environment surrounding the cartilage cells and how this varied across the tissue.

Other activities:

I was also a manager for the CEMPS early career researcher network ECRN. For more information on current ECRN activities please visit their intranet page.