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.

富兰克林与马歇尔学院获得激光扫描共焦显微镜奖，该显微镜将能够以传统光学显微镜无法实现的高分辨率研究细胞、组织和其他材料，从而能够调查这两项研究中的新问题和教学。来自 F&M 多个系（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（包括米勒斯维尔大学和伊丽莎白敦学院）以及兰卡斯特学区的多元化教师和学生群体将使用基于激光的显微镜系统进行最先进的图像捕获和分析。除了师生合作研究项目外，共焦显微镜每年还将为约 170 名科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 本科生和 55 名城市高中生组成的大型多元化群体提供尖端研究体验。学生将在从高中生物学到高级神经生物学的课程中观察和测量染色细胞或活细胞，并将研究免疫系统、癌症和发育。该显微镜将为第一代大学生（约占 F&M 学生人数的 15%）和弱势群体的教育做出重大贡献。共焦显微镜将为本科生提供研究机会，将研究型大学的常见技术与直接教师指导相结合，这是 F&M 文科教育的标志。共聚焦还将加强当地的研究基础设施，并增加妇女和代表性不足群体对科学的参与。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培训下一代科学家的能力。共焦显微镜将增强许多研究人员的科学发现陆地和水生微生物、植物和动物的各种主题，从细胞过程的基本机制到生物力学、发育和认知，将有助于为本科生提供高质量的研究机会。将使用共焦显微镜功能的项目包括： 涉及植物种子形成的基因表达；海马树突的改变作为空间使用的函数；哺乳动物大脑发育的新细胞机制；计算机模拟不同皮层区域的脑细胞功能；炎症相关 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传导调节；和斜纹肌细胞的形态。附近的米勒斯维尔大学和伊丽莎白敦学院的研究重点是微生物多样性随时间演变的空间模式、龟壳形成过程中的细胞迁移以及水生水螅物种的细胞应激反应，这些都将通过使用显微镜来增强，从而实现多样化的科学发现。