The objective the MBRS SCORE Program at California State University, Dominguez Hills is to increase the participation of science faculty in on-campus biomedical research. Our plan is to develop a nucleus of biomedical research faculty with recognized research programs who can work with the administration to positively influence present and future development of research at our institution. Measurable improvements as a consequence of our SCORE Program have been the addition of two new faculty members to our program and the consequent establishment of two new biomedical research laboratories, the further development of two already established laboratories, increased productivity of the faculty involved and expanded opportunities for students to work with faculty on these projects. We have also submitted another supplement to add an additional biology faculty member to our nucleus of SCORE researchers. The objective of this MBRS SCORE supplemental application is to request equipment and technical support to assist our present SCORE PIs in achieving success in their research programs. We are requesting and Leica TCS SP2 confocal system to support the research of Dr. Laura J. Robles, a Beowulf system to support the projects of Dr. Kenneth Ganezer and Dr. Hernan Martinez, a non-contact analyzer, transducers and accessories for Dr. Ganezer and a computer technician to meet the advanced computing needs of Drs. Ganezer and Martinez. Receipt of this equipment and technical support will bring us closer to meeting our SCORE objective of increased participation of science faculty in on-campus research projects. The requested equipment will allow our SCORE investigators to bring new dimensions to their research that were previously unavailable. In addition, the confocal will also support the research of another CSUDH biology faculty member that has submitted a SCORE pilot project currently under review. The items requested will move us closer to our goal of infusion of a biomedical research culture into the science departments at CSUDH thereby making research an important component of student, faculty and institutional development.
