Ms. Aline Knab

PhD student and Research Associate

UNSW Sydney

I am interested in label-free, non-invasive disease diagnostics and cell characterisation. For this, I explore the use of cellular autofluorescence, the natural glow of cells. By collecting spectral data across many excitation and emission wavelength combinations, we can assess endogenous molecules in the cell such as NADH, flavins, and collagen which are reflective of the cells metabolism and structure. For example, I am using this natural glow to distinguish melanoma cells from healthy cells and also to assess immune cell types and whether they are currently resting or activated, i.e. fighting a disease. This technique allows us to assess cells without any pertubartions and labour- and cost-taking staining steps, observing cells in their natural environment and potential follow-up usage such as immunotherapy. As this natural glow is quite faint and big datasets are acquired, I am using machine and deep learning in my research to assess the signals.