Photo: Vesa Loitto, Core Facility Manager at Linköping University

Vesa Loitto works as a Core Facility Manager at Linköping University. He is fascinated by the molecular mechanisms of cell movement and the fact that such a small biological entity can sense its environment, actively change its cellular shape and move towards a specific target. Vesa and BergmanLabora have been collaborating for many years. We are interested in his work and asked him some questions.

How did the collaboration with BergmanLabora start?

I have been in contact with BergmanLabora since I was a PhD student in 1996-2001. I have been working with microscopy with a focus on cell movement for many years. For our part, it has been important to have the best possible equipment in microbiology. Nikon has been a central part of our microscopy park throughout.

What is your role at Linköping University?

Today I am the Core Facility Manager for the Microscopy Unit of the Faculty of Medicine. This means working with microscopy at the Core Facility 80%, the rest is teaching students. I still try to do research when I have the opportunity, but gave up doing research on a larger scale before. After I got my PhD, I did a post doc in the US. Then got a great position at Linköping University. Then it took a while to get funding for research. It can be difficult to get funding as a new researcher. Then I left Linköping University and started at Astra Zeneca. When AstraZeneca closed down all CNS/Pain research and Safety Assessment in Södertälje in 2012, I applied for money that I needed for publications as a researcher. Then I was lucky enough to get funding for this, which meant that I could continue my research.

Then, when I came back to Linköping University, the previous Core Facility Manager left. I was then offered that position. Now I have built it up with a focus on microscopy on living cells. We started with a point-scanner confocal, but today we have expanded so that we have 2 such confocal systems, as well as a Crest Spinning Disk confocal system. A Spinning Disk system is a fantastic tool when you want to microscope with living cells, because it is gentle on the cells. A Spinning Disk illuminates the cells at low power, which means that the cells are not damaged or the fluorochromes are not bleached, and it is so fast that you can study and film rapid processes that take place in living cells. The cells in the body have never encountered a photon, so in order to visualize them, you need to create as natural an environment as possible. Our other two confocals are also good. I train people to use these. Then they can book time to drive themselves. Available nearby at the beginning.

What is the most fun part of your job?

It is that there is so much variety. I feel like I can help the microscope users and be part of so many different projects. Science is very interesting. Fun to discuss science and fun to instruct people. I am a doer and enjoy being hands-on, which is important for our bench-top scanning electron microscopes and transmission electron microscopes. Interesting to solve problems and to be involved in science. Helping people is a fun part of my work.

What are your biggest challenges in your work?

People need to realize that there are many microscopy methods. There is no one method that can solve everything. It is also important to get people to understand concepts in microscopy.

What is your thinking ahead?

To constantly develop. Improving old equipment and buying new when necessary. To be a support unit for my colleagues. Price should not prevent anyone from using the microscopy unit equipment. Affordable facility. Fascinated most by the big discovery, showing something new is the driving force. See cells live, live cell research. Spinning disk is an amazing technique to follow live cells. It’s fascinating to think that the body is full of these cells working on all the time