Dr MacDonald is currently the head of the Biophotonics research group and a senior lecturer at the University of Dundee where he is developing his research in cell-sorting, cell-manipulation, surgical technology, optical diagnosis of cancer and colloidal transport over potential energy landscapes.
Before joining the faculty at Dundee, Dr MacDonald worked for 7 years at the University of St Andrews. In his time at St Andrews he played a central role in setting up the now world-renowned optical trapping and biophotonics group with Prof Kishan Dholakia, before becoming an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow in Medical Instrumentation, Devices and Equipment. Whilst at St Andrews Dr MacDonald spearheaded several projects which led to the discovery of new optical manipulation techniques and cell-sorting technologies, the findings of which have been published in Science and Nature (see publications). Dr MacDonald led the commercialisation of optical sorting and acted as a consultant for Elliot Scientific in the development of their portable and affordable optical tweezers system. For the last 6 years of his time at St Andrews, Dr MacDonald has been lecturing in Advanced Laser Physics, Non-linear Optics and Optoelectronics.
Before working at St Andrews, Dr MacDonald was employed at Berne University in Switzerland where he gained his MSc and PhD. During this time he worked in the Laser Produced Plasmas and X-ray Laser group, developing high-powers solid-state lasers and master oscillators whilst collaborating with other disciplines and with industry.
Professional Biography
- PhD in Laser Physics. Berne University, Switzerland, Institute of Applied Physics. "Scaling and adaptation of a multirod Nd:YAG diode-pumped laser."
- MSc in Physics. Berne University, Switzerland, Institure of Applied Physics. "Comparison of different cooling methods for longitudinally diode laser-pumped solid-state laser rods."
- BSc (1st class hons.) in Laser Physics and Optoelectronics. University of Strathclyde, Physics Department "Refractive index gradients in Lithium Niobate Single Crystal Fibres, with Application to a Miniature Fibre Polariser"
Journal Papers: Refereed
- MacDonald, MP, Dholakia K, "Optical Vortices: optical manipulation to crystal dislocations", Physica C 468, (7-10) 508-513 (2008).
- Dholakia K, Lee WM, Paterson L, MacDonald MP, McDonald R,Andreev I, Mthunzi P, Brown CTA, Marchington RF, Riches AC, "Optical separation of cells on potential energy landscapes: enhancement with dielectric tagging", IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics 13 1646 - 1654 (2007).
- Smith RL, Spalding GC, Dholakia K, MacDonald MP, "Microfluidic Routing in Dynamic Optical Lattices", J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 9 (2007) S134–S138.
- Fischer P, McWilliam A, Paterson L, Brown CTA, Sibbett W, Dholakia K, MacDonald MP. "Two-photon ablation with 1278nm laser radiation" Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics, 9 S19-S23 (2007).
- Milne G, Rhodes DP, MacDonald MP, Dholakia K. "Fractionation of colloidal microparticles with acousto-optically generated potential energy landscapes", Optics Letters, vol. 32, issue 9, 1144-1146 (2007).
- Martin SF, Wood AD, McRobbie M, Mazilu M, MacDonald MP, Wood K, Samuel IDW, Herrington CS. "Fluorescence spectroscopy of an in vitro model of human cervical neoplasia identifies precancerous phenotype" International Journal of Cancer vol. 120, issue 9, 1964-1970 (2007).
- MacDonald MP, Prentice P, Dholakia K. "Optical vortices produced by diffraction from dislocations in two-dimensional colloidal crystals", New Journal of Physics, 8 257 (2006).
- Neale SL, MacDonald MP, Dholakia K, Krauss TF. "All optical control of microfluidic components using form birefringence", Nature Materials 4 530-3 (2005)
- MacDonald MP, Neale S, Paterson L, Richies A, Dholakia K, Spalding GC. "Cell cytometry with a light touch: Sorting microscopic matter with an optical lattice", J. Biol Reg Homeos. Ag. 18 200 (2004).
- Prentice PA, MacDonald MP, Frank TG, Cuschieri A, Spalding GC, Sibbett W, Campbell PA, Dholakia K. "Manipulation and filtration of low index particles with holographic Laguerre-Gaussian optical trap arrays," Optics Express 12, 593-600 (2004).
- MacDonald MP, Spalding GC and Dholakia K. "Microfluidic sorting in an optical lattice" Nature vol. 426, pp. 421-424, 27th November (2003).
- Paterson L, MacDonald MP, Arlt J, Dultz W, Schmitzer H, Sibbett W, Dholakia K. "Simultaneous rotation of multiple optically trapped particles", Journal of Modern Optics, vol. 50, No. 10, 1591-1599 (2003).
- Arlt J, MacDonald MP, Paterson L, Sibbett W, Dholakia K, "Moving interference patterns created using the angular Doppler-effect." Optics Express, vol. 10, No. 16, pp. 844-852 (2002).
- MacDonald MP, Paterson L, Volke-Sepulveda K, Arlt J, Sibbett W, Dholakia K. "Creation and enhanced manipulation of 3-dimensional optically trapped structures" Science vol. 296, pp.1101-1103 (2002).
- MacDonald MP, Volke-Sepulveda K, Paterson L, Arlt J, Sibbett W, Dholakia K. "Revolving interference patterns for the rotation of optically trapped particles" Optics Communications vol. 201, No. 1, pp. 21-28 (2002).
- MacDonald MP, Paterson L, Sibbett W, Bryant PE, Dholakia K. "Trapping of low-index microparticles in interferometric optical tweezers" Optics Letters vol. 15, No. 12, pp. 863-865 (2001).
- Paterson L, MacDonald MP, Arlt J, Sibbett W, Bryant PE, Dholakia K. "Controlled rotation of optically trapped microscopic particles" Science vol. 292, pp. 912-914 (2001).
- MacDonald MP, Graf Th, Balmer JE, Weber HP. "Reducing thermal lensing in diode-pumped laser rods." Optics Communications vol. 178, pp. 383-393 (2000).
- MacDonald MP, Graf Th, Balmer JE, Weber HP. "Efficient Polarised Output from End-Pumped Multirod Resonators." Optics Communications vol. 160, pp. 354-363 (1999).
- Weber R, Neuenschwander B, MacDonald MP, Weber HP. "Cooling schemes for longitudinal diode laser-pumped Nd:YAG rods" IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics vol. 34, No.6, pp. 1046-1053 (1998).
- Renwick EK, MacDonald MP, Ruddock I. "GRIN single crystal fibres" Optics Communications vol. 151, pp. 75-80 (1998).
- MacDonald MP, Graf Th, Balmer JE, Weber HP. "Configuration Q-switching in a Diode-Pumped Multirod Variable-Configuration Resonator." IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 366-371 (1998).
Journal Papers: Not Refereed plus, Magazine Articles and Book Chapters
- Andreev IA, Riches AC, Briscoe T, Paterson L, Dholakia K, MacDonald MP. "Optofluidic Blood Cell Sorting", Proceedings of microTAS, Paris, October 2007.
- Dholakia K, MacDonald MP, Zemanek P, Cizmar T. "Cellular and colloidal separation using optical forces", Book Chapter: Laser Manipulation of Cells and Tissues: Methods in Cell Biology, 82: 467-495 (2007).
- MacDonald MP, Andreev I, Milne G, Rhodes R, Paterson L, Riches A, Dholakia K, Smith RL, Spalding GC. "Sorting in Optically Produced Potential Energy Landscapes", proceedings of Topical Problems in Biophotonics, Nizhny Novgorod-Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod, August 2007.
- Smith RL, Spalding GC, MacDonald MP. "Microfluidic routing in dynamic optical lattices" Proceedings of SPIE, August 2006.
- Neale SL, MacDonald MP, Dholakia K, Krauss T. "Size resolution in light induced dielectrophoresis" Proceedings of SPIE, August 2006
- MacDonald MP, Prentice P, Dholakia K. "Colloidal Holography and Crystal Dislocations" Proceedings of SPIE vol. 5930, August 2005.
- Prentice P, MacDonald MP, Dholakia K, Campbell P. "Ultra-High Speed Observations of Optically Trapped Micro-bubble Dynamics; the Mechanism of Sonoporation" Proceedings of SPIE vol. 5930, August 2005.
- MacDonald MP, Neale SL, Smith R, Spalding GC, Dholakia K. "Sorting in an Optical Lattice", Proceedings of SPIE vol. 5907, August 2005.
- S. L. Neale, M. P. MacDonald, K. Dholakia and T. Krauss, "All optical control using form birefringence", Proceedings of SPIE vol. 5930, August 2005
- M. P. MacDonald, "Microfluidic Optical Sorting: particle selection in and optical lattice", Proceedings of SPIE vol.5514, August 2004
- M. P. MacDonald, G. C. Spalding and K. Dholakia, "All-optical sorting" OPN: Optics in 2004, December 2004.
- M. P. MacDonald, L. Paterson, G. Armstrong, J. Arlt, P. Bryant, W. Sibbett and K. Dholakia, "Laguerre-Gaussian laser modes for biophotonics and micromanipulation" Proceedings of SPIE, vol. 5147, September 2003.
- L. Paterson, M. P. MacDonald, K. Volke-Sepulveda, J. Arlt, W. Sibbett and K. Dholakia, "Continuous motion of interference patterns using the angular Doppler-effect." Proceedings of SPIE vol. 5121, pp. 98-102 (2003).
- K. Dholakia, G. Spalding and M. P. MacDonald "Optical Tweezers: The Next Generation" Physics World vol. 15, No. 10 (October 2002).
- M. P. MacDonald, Th. Graf, J.E. Balmer, H.P. Weber, "Highly efficient Nd:YAG multi-composite-rod laser" Trends in Optics and Photonics, vol. 26, pp. 264-270 (1999).
- Th. Graf, M. P. MacDonald, J.E. Balmer, H.P. Weber, "Variable-configuration resonator (VCR) with three diode-laser end-pumped Nd:YAG rods" Trends in Optics and Photonics, vol. 10, pp. 370-375(1997).
Conference Papers: Refereed
- M.P.MacDonald, "Fractionation of microparticles with acousto-optically generated potential energy landscapes" USWnet, Zurich, November 2008.
- I.A. Andreev, A.C. Riches, T. Briscoe, L. Paterson, K. Dholakia and M.P. MacDonald, "Optofluidic blood cell sorting", microTAS, Paris, 2007.
- M.P. MacDonald, invited presentation "Optical dislocations produced by crystal dislocations", VORTEX V, Rhodes, Greece, September 2007.
- M.P. MacDonald, invited presentation "Sorting in Optically Produced Potential Energy Landscapes" Topical Problems in Biophotonics 2007, Nizhny Novgorod, August 2007.
- P. Fischer, A. McWilliam, L. Paterson, C.T.A. Brown, W. Sibbett, K. Dholakia and M.P. MacDonald, "Two-photon ablation using 1278 nm laser radiation", Focus on Microscopy, Valencia, Spain, April 2007.
- G. Milne, D. P. Rhodes, M. P. MacDonald, K. Dholakia "Fractionation of colloidal microparticles with acousto-optically generated potential energy landscapes", Trends in Optical Micromanipulation, Obergurgl, Austria 5-9 February 2007.
- I. Andreev, L. Paterson, A. Richies, K. Dholakia and M. P. MacDonald "Microfluidic optical sorting" Optical Technologies in Biophysics and Medicine, Saratov, September 2006.
- P. Fischer, A. McWilliam, L. Paterson, C. T. A. Brown, W. Sibbett, K. Dholakia and M. P. MacDonald "Two-photon ablation with 1278nm laser radiation" Photon 06, Manchester, September 2006
- R. S. Smith, G. C. Spalding and M. P. MacDonald, "Microfluidic routing in dynamic optical lattices" Proceedings of SPIE, August 2006.
- S. L. Neale, M. P. MacDonald, K. Dholakia and T. Krauss, "Size resolution in light induced dielectrophoresis" Proceedings of SPIE, August 2006
- M. P. MacDonald, invited presentation on "Sorting in an Optical Lattice", Photonic Devices and Algorithms for Computing VII, San Diego, August 2005.
- M. P. MacDonald, P. Prentice and K. Dholakia, "Colloidal Holography and Crystal Dislocations", Optical Trapping and Optical Manipulation II, San Diego, August 2005.
- S. L. Neale, M. P. MacDonald, K. Dholakia and T. Krauss, "All optical control using form birefringence", Optical Trapping and Optical Manipulation II, San Diego, August 2005.
- P. Prentice, M. P. MacDonald, K. Dholakia and Paul Campbell "Ultra-High Speed Observations of Optically Trapped Micro-bubble Dynamics; the Mechanism of Sonoporation", Optical Trapping and Optical Manipulation II, San Diego, August 2005.
- P. Fischer, A. McWilliam, C.T.A. Brown, K. Wood, M. MacDonald, W. Sibbett, K. Dholakia, "Deep Tissue Penetration of Radiation: Modelling and Experiments", CLEO Europe, June 2005.
- M. P. MacDonald, invited symposium on "Optical Sorting: a new approach to cell cytometry" Fourth Euroconference (EWGCCA: European Working Group On Clinical Call Analysis) and Ninth National Symposium (BVC/ABC: Belgian Society for Cytometry), "Flow cytometry and beyond" Mol, Belgium (September 2004)
- M. P. MacDonald, S. L. Neale, G. C. Spalding and K. Dholakia, "Sorting in an Optical Lattice", Photon ‘04, Glasgow (September 2004).
- M. P. MacDonald, G. C. Spalding and K. Dholakia, invited paper on "Microfluidic Optical Sorting" Optical Trapping and Optical Manipulation Conference, Denver (August 2004).
- M. P. MacDonald, G. C. Spalding and K. Dholakia "Three Dimensional Optical Sorting" Biophotonics 03, Ven, Sweden (June 2003),
- G.C. Spalding, D. McGloin, V. Garcés-Chávez, M. P. MacDonald, H. Melville, K. Dholakia "Micro-manipulation using Novel Optical Traps" [N13.011] APS March Meeting, Austin, TX (2003)
- M. P. MacDonald, L. Paterson, G. Armstrong, J. Arlt, P. Bryant, W. Sibbett and K. Dholakia, "Laguerre-Gaussian laser modes for biophotonics and micromanipulation" Advanced Laser Technologies 02, Adelboden, Switzerland, (2002).
- L. Paterson, M. P. MacDonald, K. Volke-Sepulveda, J. Arlt, W. Sibbett and K. Dholakia, "Continuous motion of interference patterns using the angular Doppler-effect." LAT 2002, Moscow, (2002).
- K. Dholakia, L. Paterson, M. P. MacDonald, J. Arlt, W. Sibbett and P. E. Bryant, "Optical Micro-rotator" The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition (2002).
- M. P. MacDonald, L. Paterson, J. Arlt, W. Sibbett and K. Dholakia, "Controlled construction, rotation and translation of 3-dimensional, optically trapped structures." Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics May 19-24, Long Beach, California, paper CFC7 (2002).
- M. P. MacDonald, L. Paterson, J. Arlt, K. Volke-Sepulveda, P. E. Bryant, W. Sibbett and K. Dholakia, "Controlled rotation of optically trapped particles." Quantum Electronics and Photonics 15 September 3-6 2001, Glasgow, Scotland (2001).
- L. Paterson, M. P. MacDonald, J. Arlt, W. Sibbett and K. Dholakia, "Optical trapping of low-index spheres in an interference pattern." Quantum Electronics and Photonics 15 September 3-6 , Glasgow, Scotland (2001).
- L. Paterson, M. P. MacDonald, , J. Arlt, K. Volke-Sepulveda, P. E. Bryant, W. Sibbett and K. Dholakia, "Controlled rotation of trapped particles in a spiral interference pattern." Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics May 6-11, Baltimore, Maryland, postdeadline paper CPD27-1. (Presented by M. P. MacDonald)(2001)
- M. P. MacDonald, L. Paterson, P. E. Bryant, W. Sibbett and K. Dholakia, "Optical tweezing of rod-like particles and hollow spheres in an interference pattern" Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics May 6-11, Baltimore, Maryland, paper CWN4 (2001).
- U. Roth, M. P. MacDonald, J. E. Balmer, D. Burns, M. D. Dawson, E. Bente, "1053 nm Nd:YLF laser passively mode-locked with a saturable Bragg reflector (SBR)" Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, Nice, France (2000).
- M. P. MacDonald, Th. Graf, J.E. Balmer, H.P. Weber, "Highly efficient Nd:YAG multi-composite-rod laser" Advanced Solid-State Lasers Boston (ASSL '99) Boston, USA, (1999).
- E. K. Renwick, M. P. MacDonald, I. Ruddock, "GRIN single crystal fibres" Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics – Europe September 14-18, Glasgow, Scotland, paper CTuA4 (98).
- M. P. MacDonald, Th. Graf, J.E. Balmer, H.P. Weber, "Efficient polarised output from an end-pumped multirod variable-configuration resonator" Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics – Europe September 14-18, Glasgow, Scotland, paper CWD5 (98).
- M. P. MacDonald, Th. Graf, J.E. Balmer, H.P. Weber, "Q-switching a continuously end-pumped multirod resonator." Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics- Europe , September 14-18, Glasgow, Scotland, paper CWD6 (98).
- Th. Graf, M. P. MacDonald, J.E. Balmer, H.P. Weber, "Variable-configuration resonator (VCR) with three diode-laser end-pumped Nd:YAG rods" Advanced Solid-State Lasers Boston (ASSL '97) Orlando (1997).
Oral Presentations: Not Refereed
- M. P. MacDonald, invited colloquium on "Colloidal and Optical Dislocations", 2. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, 20th of July 2006.
- M. P. MacDonald, invited presentation on "Microfluidic Optical Sorting", IOP/LEOS meeting on Optics in Microfluidics, Edinburgh University, 2nd June 2005.
- M. P. MacDonald, invited presentation on "Advanced Biophotonics at St Andrews" LEOS meeting; Biophotonics Futures, 20th of April 2005.
- M. P. MacDonald, invited presentation on "New directions in biophotonics: an advanced optical toolkit" Photonics in Biotechnology and Healthcare, DTI meeting, Grasmere, 11th October 2004.
- M. P. MacDonald, K. Dholakia and W. Sibbett, invited presentation on "A UK perspective on Biophotonics" Photonics in Biotechnology and Healthcare, DTI meeting, Grasmere, 11th October 2004.
- M. P. MacDonald, invited presentation on "New directions in biophotonics: an advanced optical toolkit", LEOS Biophotonics meeting 12th July 2004.
