An award is made to Furman University to support the acquisition of a flow cytometer to enhance research and training in the South Carolina Upstate. Flow cytometry is a powerful tool for the simultaneous analysis of multiple biological and/or chemical targets within cells or similarly sized objects. It possesses the speed, sensitivity, and robustness to analyze rare populations within large, heterogeneous samples, making it a critical analytical tool that will be used in faculty-led, student-centered research in the Biology, Chemistry, and Neuroscience programs at Furman, a research-active Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI). In addition, faculty and student research efforts at other regional PUIs will benefit from access to this equipment. Acquisition of the flow cytometer will enable the high-impact engagement of at least 50 students and faculty across the three participating institutions each year. Through multiple active NSF summer research programs, additional faculty and students from regional PUIs, HBCUs, two-year colleges, and first generation-serving institutions will directly benefit from access to the instrument.
Faculty-led research programs serve as the cornerstone of Furman’s vision of engaged learning for undergraduates in the sciences. Acquisition of the flow cytometer will enable diverse research including (1) activation-induced chromatin decondensation in cells of the lymphocyte lineage; (2) polydiacetylene liposomes as sensors and imaging agents; (3) effects of reactive oxygen species fungi; (4) the development of novel PI3K inhibitors; (5) sex differences in the effects of high fat diet; (6) RNA binding proteins; and (7) stem cells biology. Faculty are committed to dissemination of their findings in presentations at national conferences and publications that include undergraduate co-authors in respected peer-reviewed journals.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
