Dr. Shirin Ansari is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lymphocyte Signalling Group within the Department of Molecular Medicine at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. She specialises in employing super resolution microscopy to investigate the molecular dynamics of T cell signalling during antigen recognition by the T cell receptor (TCR) and how this determines cell fate decisions. To address the complexity and dynamics of early T-cell signalling pathways, she focuses on using single-molecule localisation microscopy techniques such as protein-PAINT and DNA-PAINT to visualize and quantify the spatial organisation of the TCR relative to proximal signalling proteins. 

To achieve high molecular precision, she has developed a ‘mini’ stabilised Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) microscope that provides real-time positional accuracy and drift correction during imaging. This custom-built system has also been integrated with a microfluidics system, enabling multiplex imaging with exceptional stability and near perfect channel alignment over extended acquisitions. Dr. Ansari is currently applying this technology to measure the binding kinetics of key signalling proteins to their target sites in situ, quantify the activation states of TCR sites, and characterise the differences in proximal signalling between conventional TCRs and TCR-like cancer therapeutics, with the aim to better understand the molecular dynamics governing T cell activation.