Bruno Pichler

Bruno Pichler studied medicine and qualified as a physician before obtaining a PhD in neuroscience at Technical University Munich. He started using fluorescence microscopy for calcium-imaging more than 20 years ago as a graduate student in Arthur Konnerth's lab in Munich. He then worked as a postdoc in Thomas Mrsic-Flogel's lab at University College London and as a Senior Investigator Scientist in Troy Margrie's lab at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR). During this time, he built an ample variety of multiphoton microscopes and wrote software for instrument control, image acquisition, image processing, visual stimulation and data analysis. Bruno has taught imaging techniques at international courses including EMBO, CSHL and TENSS and has co-authored papers in Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Communications, PNAS and other journals.

 In 2013, Bruno joined Scientifica Ltd. as R&D Manager and worked with his team on the development of new products in Scientifica's multiphoton range (eg. VivoScope, Chromoflex, HyperScope). He was the author of Scientifica's open-source image acquisition software SciScan which received the Microscopy Today Innovation Award 2016.

 In 2016, Bruno Pichler founded Independent NeuroScience Services (INSS) to provide the international neuroscience community with bespoke hardware solutions and other consulting services.

 Bruno is a Bluegrass music aficionado and performs regularly with several bands. His instrument of choice is the Dobro (a square-neck resophonic guitar, played in the lap steel style).

An interview with Bruno was recently published on Peter Rupprecht’s Blog.

Angelos Loukidis

Angelos Loukidis obtained a BSc in Automation Engineering from Technological Education Institute of Halkis (Greece) and an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Kingston University London. He originally worked on laser sources for a variety of industrial and biomedical applications, but has now focused primarily on multiphoton microscopes for the past 7 years. At INSS, Angelos is responsible for computer-aided design of bespoke hardware solutions, and he also carries out on-site installations worldwide.

Angelos is a keen archer (who has competed at international level) and he enjoys cooking for his friends and family.

Lionel Tcatchoff

Lionel obtained a PhD in Biochemistry in 2007 from the University of Versailles (France), studying human olfactory perception, including expression and functional characterisation of olfactory receptors via calcium imaging. He then worked as a postdoc at Oslo university hospital (Norway) and Umeå university (Sweden) where he studied retrograde trafficking of toxin protein in cancer cells and replication mechanisms of viruses. He later moved to a Lab manager Position at University of Sussex (UK) working on biochemical aspects of hearing loss.
In 2016 Lionel joined Scientifica Ltd in an Application and Support role for multiphoton microscope systems, and was eventually leading the Support team.
In 2020, he joined INSS as an Application Scientist to provide service, support and tailored design solutions to clients and collaborators in the neuroscience community.

Lionel is a proud daddy, spending most of his non-working time taking care of his young daughter & son, amazed by their daily updated skill set!

Eleanor Wilkie

eleanor@inss.org.uk

Eleanor has worked part-time at INSS since 2017 and manages day to day administration including; purchasing, finances, travel organisation, event planning and HR. Prior to working at INSS, Eleanor was a secondary school teacher for over 10 years but decided to change careers shortly after her daughter was born.

Eleanor is also a professional musician who previously performed worldwide with acclaimed bluegrass band ‘Midnight Skyracer’.

Doris Pichler

doris@inss.org.uk

Doris Pichler holds a PhD in Freshwater Ecology, which she obtained from Queen Mary University of London in 2013. She coordinated and conducted fieldwork in England, Scotland and Iceland for her research on aquatic food webs. She later worked as an Operator Risk Assessor in the Agricultural sector. Before her maternity leave, she worked as a part -time postdoc at Imperial College London and Oxford University. She joined INSS in 2022 as an Operations Coordinator.

In her spare time, she enjoys beachcombing and mudlarking and then turning her found treasures into handmade silver jewellery.

Simon Acott

Simon’s role at INSS is to oversee the facility and stock management, planning, shipping and process management. He also assists with installations, service and support and sales administration. In previous roles in the microscopy industry, he has managed and coordinated a team of engineers to undertake installations and service visits worldwide, has been involved in sales teams and has worked on quality assurance activities including ISO 9001. Prior to his career in the microscopy industry, Simon worked at a sports manufacturing company having gained a BSc in Business Studies and Sports Science at Brunel University, West London.
Simon enjoys playing (field) hockey and other sporting pursuits including running the 2019 London Marathon. He also enjoys walks in the Sussex countryside with his family, friends and his dog.