This ADVANCE Fellows award is to support the academic career development of the awardee in engineering. The overall mission of the ADVANCE Program is to increase the participation of women in the scientific and engineering workforce through the increased representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers. It is anticipated that the ADVANCE award will not only advance the PI's career as an engineering researcher, but also allow her to serve as a role model and mentor to women students who are pursuing careers in engineering, or related fields. This research will extend NMR microscopy to study the structure-function and micro-fluidics surrounding growth and decay of biofilms in capillaries and porous media and investigate cell transport through microchannels. Biofilms are microbial colonies that grow on surfaces. While much is known about the growth state of free bacteria, little is known about the structure-function relationships when cells are in the biofilm state and it is known that biofilms play a significant role in the resistance of bacteria to antibiotic treatment. The use of novel NMR microscopy contrast agents that are "turned on" with function, as well as the use of iron-tagged cells will allow some of the vital questions surrounding biofilm function to be answered. It is expected that this research, which is relevant to numerous micro-fluidic applications such as biosensors and "lab on a chip" systems, will have significant broader impacts in the analysis of the transport of viruses and microbes in filtration separations. NMR microscopy methods will allow noninvasive measurement of time and length scale dependent displacements within opaque systems such as cell suspensions and porous media and will provide unique data for testing of conceptual and numerical models of transport in these systems. The collaboration between chemical and bioengineering, with physics and chemistry, will enhance the breadth of understanding of micro-fluidics. The awardee intends to advance diversity in her department by encouraging women graduate and undergraduate students to work with her on this highly relevant biofilm research. This ADVANCE Fellows award will be managed by two divisions, BES and CTS.
