COMPARE Advanced Imaging Facility
The COMPARE Advanced Imaging Facility offers training, support, and access to equipment for advanced microscopy and image analysis.
The COMPARE Advanced Imaging Facility is an integral part of the Centre of Membrane Proteins and Receptors (COMPARE) and is embedded in the Tech Hub of our College. The Facility offers access to state-of-the-art commercial and custom microscopes, advanced image analysis software, and high-performance computing infrastructure.
We provide comprehensive support, training, and access to technologies such as live-cell imaging, super-resolution microscopy, single-particle tracking, and light-sheet microscopy. These technologies enable researchers to investigate biological and biomedical questions across scales, from single molecules to whole organisms, with unprecedented detail
Open to both internal and external users from academia and industry, our Facility supports dozens of projects across various disciplines.
We are a founding member of Midlands Open Bioimaging, which aims at democratising access to advanced microscopy in our region.
Access, fees, and booking
Access, fees, and booking
The COMPARE Advanced Imaging Facility is open to researchers within and outside COMPARE.
Access is charged according to the instrument and level of support required. Academic, non-profit and commercial rates are available on request.
For grant costings, training or project enquiries, please contact us at compare@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
Our staff
Our staff
Dr Edalat Radfar
COMPARE Advanced Analysis Specialist
E-mail: e.radfar@bham.ac.uk
Edalat Radfar is a Biomedical Engineer with over a decade of experience in optics and advance microscopy. He joined the COMPARE Advanced Imaging Facility in early 2024 as an Advanced Imaging Analysis Specialist. Edalat specialises in developing and implementing advanced optical setups and image analysis workflows.
During his postdoctoral research at the Institute of Metabolism & Systems Research (IMSR), now Department of Metabolism and Systems Science (MSS), and the Centre of Membrane Proteins and Receptors (COMPARE), he worked on super-resolution microscopy and live-cell single-molecule imaging applied to receptor signalling. He also led the development of an adaptive optics microscope for 3D single-molecule localisation microscopy and an AI-controlled high-content light-sheet microscope as part of the Midlands Open Bioimaging initiative.
Edalat provides specialist advice and training to the users of the Facility, working closely with researchers and supporting them in developing and optimising their experiments and image analysis workflows. Alongside this, he provides a range of workshops and image analysis training courses using the latest open-source software.
Dr Mezida Saeed
COMPARE Advanced Imaging Specialist
E-mail: m.saeed.2@bham.ac.uk
Mezida Saeed is a PhD-trained immunologist and microscopist with over eight years of experience in advanced fluorescence imaging and cell biology. Before joining the COMPARE Advanced Imaging Facility, she held research positions at the University of Manchester, the National Institutes of Health in the USA, Karolinska Institutet and the Science for Life Laboratory in Sweden. Her research has focused on the nanoscale organisation of the actin cytoskeleton, immune-cell signalling and membrane-protein organisation, using techniques including confocal and live-cell microscopy, SIM, STED, STORM and TIRF microscopy.
At COMPARE, Mezida provides specialist support in experimental design, sample preparation, image acquisition and quantitative analysis. She also delivers microscopy training and supports researchers in developing robust imaging workflows for biological and biomedical research.
Training and Support
Training and Support
We provide training for independent use of our microscopy systems. Training can be requested through Stratocore, and independent access is granted once competency has been confirmed.
For projects requiring specialist input, we also offer assisted imaging, method development and image analysis support. Please contact us to discuss your project requirements.