This award is for the acquisition of a confocal microscope with: a conventional scan head for high resolution scanning, visible wave length lasers, and acousto optical tunable filters and beam splitters for precise wavelength control of excitation and emission allowing for the use of a wide variety of fluors for colocalization studies and for live cell imaging. Research projects needing the microscope include: investigating the mechanisms of cell differentiation; studying transcription regulation and receptor trafficking; and investigating protein aggregation, cell adhesion, cytoskeletal reorganization, odorant sensing and plant defense systems. The applications range from tissue engineering and biomaterials, to the development of nanosensors and the investigation of molecular and cellular level phenomena, all aimed at solving a variety of problems of societal importance.
The microscope will support the research and teaching needs of a relatively new research university campus with an outstanding record of mentoring women and minorities in the sciences and engineering at all levels. This record is reflected in the composition of the user group involved with this award. Ten of the fifteen labs that comprise the user group are headed by women investigators, including an African-American and a Hispanic. They include a PECASE awardee and a Clair Booth Luce Fellow. In addition to undergrads from the university, undergrads using the microscope will come through summer programs for undergrads from Historically Black Colleges, Community Colleges, and non-research colleges.
