This U.S. Brazil Planning Visit grant will support Mark Merchant and a graduate student to travel to Brazil in order to initiate and plan a collaboration with Dr. Luciano Verdade at the University of Sao Paolo. The focus of the project is the characterization of aspects of the innate immune system of species of Crocodilians that are only available in South America, starting with the broad-snouted caiman. Specific goals include the characterization of the serum complement system, the antimicrobial peptides of the caiman leukocytes, and the febrile response to infection. The planning visit will be used to assess the facilities/equipment of the host institution, train the host scientists to conduct the assays developed in the laboratory of the P.I., and collect samples/tissues and preliminary data to support a full research grant proposal that would include public outreach through the Louisiana NSF/EPSCoR-sponsored Speaking of Science program; a partnership with the Louis Stokes-Louisiana Minority Participation Program (LAMP) to provide research opportunities for underrepresented minorities; and a partnership with the Summer Experience for Economically Disadvantaged (SEED) and Upward Bound programs to provide research opportunities and faculty-mentoring for socio-economically challenged local high school students.
