James Gilchrist

James obtained his Ph.D. in material science and engineering from Imperial College London and MChem from the University of Manchester.

For his Ph.D., he studied the structure of organic semi-conductor interfaces and thin films and later he extended his research to metal-organic interfaces as part of a post-doctoral research position with industry. During this time, he worked extensively with transmission electron microscopy and focussed ion beam (FIB) milling.

James later ran the electron microscopy facility at the Research Complex at Harwell before starting at eBIC, where he now runs the cryoFIB user program and contributes to the Krios user program.

James' research focusses on using and advancing cryoFIB for biological sample preparation and the high-resolution imaging of cellular structures using cryo-EM. The typical structures that are being examined are viral replication within the cytoplasm, mitochondria cristae and proteins at the nuclear membrane. James' efforts are also directed to solving quality and throughput challenges relating to cryoFIB sample preparation for cryo-ET.

Paul Benjamin Klar, et al. (2024)
Cryo-tomography and 3D Electron Diffraction Reveal the Polar Habit and Chiral Structure of the Malaria Pigment Crystal Hemozoin. 
ACS Central Science Article ASAP.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscentsci.4c00162 

Pranav N.M. Shah, et al. (2023)
Characterization of the rotavirus assembly pathway in situ using cryoelectron tomography.
Cell Host Microbe.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2023.03.004

Mendonça, L. et al. (2021)
Correlative multi-scale cryo-imaging unveils SARS-CoV-2 assembly and egress.
Nature Communications.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24887-y

Claudine Bisson, et al. (2021)
Preparing Lamellae from Vitreous Biological Samples Using a Dual-Beam Scanning Electron Microscope for Cryo-Electron Tomography.
JoVE, Biochemistry.
https://dx.doi.org/10.3791/62350

Jingfang Yu, et al. (2021)
Aged layered double hydroxide nanosheet-polyvinyl alcohol dispersions for enhanced gas barrier coating performance.
Materials Horizons.
https://doi.org/10.1039/D1MH00433F

Emma V. Beale, et al. (2020)
A Workflow for Protein Structure Determination From Thin Crystal Lamella by Micro-Electron Diffraction.
Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2020.00179

Hua Geng, et al. (2017)
Biotransformation of Silver Released from Nanoparticle Coated Titanium Implants Revealed in Regenerating Bone.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b05150

Gilchrist, J. B., Heutz, S., & McComb, D. W. (2017)
Revealing structure and electronic properties at organic interfaces using TEM.
Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science, 1–9.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cossms.2017.01.002

Alexander, J. A., Scheltens, F. J., Drummy, L. F., Durstock, M. F., Gilchrist, J. B., Heutz, S., & McComb, D. W. (2016)
Measurement of optical properties in organic photovoltaic materials using monochromated electron energy-loss spectroscopy.
J. Mater. Chem. A, 4(35), 13636–13645.
https://doi.org/10.1039/C6TA06201F

Gilchrist, J. B., Basey-Fisher, T. H., Chang, S. C., Scheltens, F., McComb, D. W., & Heutz, S. (2014)
Uncovering Buried Structure and Interfaces in Molecular Photovoltaics.
Advanced Functional Materials, 24(41), 6473–6483.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201400345

Franklin, J. B., Gilchrist, J. B., Downing, J. M., Roy, K. A., & McLachlan, M. A. (2014)
Transparent conducting oxide top contacts for organic electronics.
Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2(1), 84.
https://doi.org/10.1039/c3tc31296h

Westacott, P., Tumbleston, J. R., Shoaee, S., Fearn, S., Bannock, J. H., Gilchrist, J. B., … Stingelin, N. (2013)
On the role of intermixed phases in organic photovoltaic blends.
Energy & Environmental Science, 6(9), 2756.
https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ee41821a

Hatch, S. M., Briscoe, J., Sapelkin, A., Gillin, W. P., Gilchrist, J. B., Ryan, M. P., … Dunn, S. (2013)
Influence of anneal atmosphere on ZnO-nanorod photoluminescent and morphological properties with self-powered photodetector performance.
Journal of Applied Physics, 113(20), 204501.
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4805349

Pishbin, F., Mouriño, V., Gilchrist, J. B., McComb, D. W., Kreppel, S., Salih, V., … Boccaccini, A. R. (2013)
Single-step electrochemical deposition of antimicrobial orthopaedic coatings based on a bioactive glass/chitosan/nano-silver composite system.
Acta Biomaterialia, 9(7), 7469–79.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2013.03.006

Gilchrist, J. B., Heutz, S., & McComb, D. W. (2012)
Using TEM and XRD to probe crystal orientation in organic thin films grown with OMBD.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 371, 12042.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/371/1/012042