The Institute of Physics (IOP) has awarded Bio Nano Consulting (BNC) collaborator Dr Rachel McKendry the Paterson prize for her work developing label-free nanomechanical cantilever sensors.
Dr McKendry's work with cantilevers has aided the understanding of the origins of surface stress at biomolecular interfaces.
The cantilever system works by detecting interactions between ligands attached to one side of the cantilever and receptor molecules, via changes in surface stress that cause the cantilever to bend.
The cantilever is 500um long, 100um wide and only 900nm thick, giving it remarkable sensitivity, which allows it to detect tiny changes in forces at the surface of the cantilever.
Dr McKendry's expertise in this field has enabled BNC to commercially develop drug-screening technologies to speed up the discovery of new antibiotics.
