Andy Filby
Before being appointed as Head of Flow Cytometry at Newcastle University, Dr Andrew Filby was the deputy head of the Flow Cytometry Laboratory at the London Research Institute (Cancer Research UK). It is currently one of the largest core facilities for cytometry in the world in terms of instrumentation and user base. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the University of Huddersfield, spending one year working for Zeneca in their Immuno-toxicology division where he first encountered flow cytometry. He then obtained a PhD from the laboratory of Dr Rose Zamoyska at the National Institute for Medical Research investigating the role of Src-family kinases in T cell development, activation and differentiation. It was during this time that he fell in love with flow cytometry and realised its potential. He then went on to a post-doctoral position in the laboratory of Dr George Kassiotis looking at immune responses to retroviral infection. This was followed by a brief foray into the world of commercial science where he first encountered Imaging Flow Cytometry.
In his current role, he is considered one of the leading exponents of cytometry in the UK including cell sorting, analytical cytometry and image-based cytometry. He has published over 15 peer-reviewed articles in journals including Science and Cell, with a particular focus on Imaging Flow Cytometry. In 2011, his work published in Cytometry Part A was awarded the accolade of “paper of the year”.
Dr Filby is also an active member of the International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry, where he serves on the Image Cytometry steering committee. Dr Filby is invited to speak at several national and international cytometry conferences about his research and also teaches on a number of educational cytometry courses. Dr Filby has also been helping to develop content for the “Cyto University” on-line educational programme. Dr Filby has also recently been identified as an ISAC Shared Resource Laboratory “Emerging Leader” by the society.
