MRI: Acquisition of a laser scanning confocal microscope to support faculty-student collaborative scholarship at a research-intensive liberal arts college

MRI：购买激光扫描共焦显微镜，以支持研究密集型文理学院的师生合作奖学金

• 批准号: 1626073
• 负责人: Clara Moore
• 金额: $ 40.32万
• 依托单位: Franklin and Marshall College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-01 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1626073&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Acquisition; laser; scanning; confocal

An award is made to Franklin & Marshall College for a laser scanning confocal microscope that will enable the study of cells, tissues, and other materials at high resolution that cannot be achieved with traditional light microscopy, and thus allow investigation of new questions in both research and teaching. A diverse group of faculty and students from multiple departments at F&M (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics and Astronomy, and Psychology), from other institutions of higher education including Millersville University and Elizabethtown College, and from the School District of Lancaster will use the laser-based microscope system for state-of-the-art image capture and analysis. In addition to student-faculty collaborative research projects, the confocal microscope will enable cutting-edge research experiences for a large and diverse group of about 170 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) undergraduates and 55 urban high school students annually. Students will view and measure stained or living cells in courses from high school biology to advanced neurobiology and will investigate the immune system, cancer, and development. The microscope will contribute significantly to the education of first-generation college students (about 15% of F&M's student population) and underrepresented groups. The confocal microscope will provide research opportunities for undergraduates that integrate technology common at research universities with direct faculty mentoring that is the hallmark of a liberal arts education at F&M. The confocal will also enhance local research infrastructure and increase the participation of women and underrepresented groups in science. The high quality, state-of-the-art instrument will enhance F&M's ability to offer up-to-date training to students and provide outreach to train the next generation of scientists.The confocal microscope will enhance the scientific findings of many faculty who study a diverse range of topics in terrestrial and aquatic microbes, plants and animals, from fundamental mechanisms of cellular processes to biomechanics, development and cognition, and will help offer high-quality research opportunities to undergraduates. Projects that will use the range of capabilities of the confocal microscope include: gene expression involved in the formation of plant seeds; modification of hippocampal dendrites as a function of space use; novel cellular mechanisms of mammalian brain development; computer simulations of brain cell function in different regions of cortex; characterization of NLR proteins involved in inflammation; distribution of proteins critical for heart and skeletal development; signaling regulation of tumor suppressor proteins; and the morphology of obliquely striated muscle cells. Research at nearby Millersville University and Elizabethtown College focused on evolving spatial patterns of microbes diversity over time, migration of cells during turtle shell formation, and cellular stress responses of aquatic Hydra species will be enhanced with access to the microscope allowing diverse scientific discoveries.

向富兰克林和马歇尔学院颁发了激光扫描共聚焦显微镜的奖励，该显微镜将能够研究细胞，组织和其他高分辨率的细胞，组织和其他材料，而传统的光学显微镜无法实现，从而允许在这两项研究中研究新问题和教学。来自F＆M多个部门的多元组（生物学，化学，数学和计算机科学，物理和天文学以及心理学），来自其他高等教育机构，包括Millersville University，包括Millersville University和Elizabethtown College，以及兰开斯特学区将使用基于激光的显微镜系统进行最新的图像捕获和分析。除了学生教师的合作研究项目外，共聚焦显微镜还将为大约170个科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）本科生和55名城市高中生的大约170个科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）和55个城市高中生提供尖端的研究经验。学生将在高中生物学到高级神经生物学的课程中查看和测量染色或活细胞，并研究免疫系统，癌症和发展。显微镜将对第一代大学生的教育（约占餐饮学生人数的15％）和代表性不足的群体做出重大贡献。共聚焦显微镜将为本科生提供研究机会，这些本科生将研究大学的技术与直接教师指导相结合，这是F＆M的文科教育的标志。该公共焦点还将增强本地研究基础设施，并增加妇女和代表性不足的科学群体的参与。高质量，最先进的仪器将增强F＆M为学生提供最新培训并提供外展培训的能力。共聚焦显微镜将增强许多研究的许多教师的科学发现从细胞过程的基本机制到生物力学，发展和认知，陆地和水生微生物，动物和动物中的各种主题，将有助于为大学生提供高质量的研究机会。将使用共聚焦显微镜功能范围的项目包括：与植物种子形成有关的基因表达；海马树突与空间使用的函数的修饰；哺乳动物脑发育的新型细胞机制；皮质不同区域中脑细胞功能的计算机模拟；涉及炎症的NLR蛋白的表征；对心脏和骨骼发育至关重要的蛋白质的分布；肿瘤抑制蛋白的信号调节；以及倾斜的肌肉细胞的形态。附近的米勒斯维尔大学和伊丽莎白镇学院的研究着重于随着时间的流逝而不断发展的微生物多样性的空间模式，乌龟壳形成过程中细胞的迁移以及水生氢种类的细胞应激反应将通过访问显微镜提供多样化的科学发现，从而增强水生水。