CAREER: Molecular-Scale Interactions Between Microbes and Surfaces in the Environment

0238627卡米萨诺保护饮用水免受病原性污染是一个日益令人担忧的问题，因为美国有50%的人口依赖地下水作为饮用水，而某些菌株的大肠杆菌和霍乱弧菌只有10-12个菌落形成单位(CFU)就可以导致感染。拟议工作的目标是在单分子水平上表征致病微生物和非致病微生物的表面，并将这些生物聚合物的物理和化学性质与细菌在“清洁”和有机涂层表面的粘附性联系起来。我们研究离子聚合物介导的细菌黏附的单分子方法使我们能够解开导致细菌黏附的复杂物理化学现象。我们的工作结果将对试图预测病原体在环境中的传播(通过有意或意外的释放)的建模人员、开发饮用水和废水处理技术的从业者、开发地下微生物的生物屏障围堵系统的从业者以及涉及生物膜的所有行业或问题，从海洋生物污染到患者的临床治疗都有帮助。教育计划的目标是通过针对大学预科到研究生水平的连续经验来促进创造力和加强学习。学生必须欣赏科学研究的刺激，然后学习阅读和解释科学文献，设计、执行和分析实验，并交流他们的发现。当学生被挑战通过应用工程和科学的基本原理以及新技术来解决现实生活中的环境工程问题时，这是最成功的。为此，我建议i)通过为高中年龄女性和少数族裔学生举办夏令营的形式开展外联活动，这将通过接触实验室实验和接触更多高级学生和教职员工来创造对细菌黏附研究的兴奋；ii)在细菌黏附实验室为一年级本科生提供研究经验指导；iii)为法国一所化学工程学校的高水平本科生提供国际研究经验；iv)为研究生提供指导本科生项目的机会；v)通过在课程中引入更多解决问题的方法、实验室和现实世界的问题来改进本科和研究生课程。

0238627 Camesano Protection of drinking water from pathogenic contamination represents a growing concern since 50% of the population in the U.S. relies on groundwater for drinking water, and as few as 10-12 colony forming units (CFUs) of some strains of Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae can cause infection. The objectives of the proposed work are to characterize the surfaces of pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms at the single-molecule level, and to relate the physical and chemical properties of these biopolymers to bacterial adhesion to "clean" and organic-coated surfaces. Our single-molecule approaches to studying iopolymer-mediated bacterial adhesion allow us to uncouple the complex physicochemical phenomena causing bacterial adhesion. The results of our work will be instrumental to modelers trying to predict the spread of pathogens in the environment (through intentional or accidental releases), to practitioners developing treatment technologies for drinking and wastewater, for the development of bio-barrier containment systems for subsurface microorganisms, and for all industries or problems that involve biofilms, from marine biofouling to clinical treatment of patients.The objectives of the educational program are to promote creativity and enhance learning through a continuum of experiences aimed at the pre-college through the graduate level. Students must gain an appreciation for the excitement of scientific research, and then learn to read and interpret scientific literature, design, perform, and analyze experiments, and communicate their findings. This is most successful when students are challenged to solve real-life environmental engineering problems by applying fundamental principles of engineering and science as well as novel technologies. Toward this end, I propose i) outreach activities through the form of summer camps for high-school aged female and minority students, which will create excitement about bacterial adhesion research through exposure to lab experiments and contact with more senior-level students and faculty, ii) mentored research experiences for first-year undergrads in a bacterial adhesion lab, iii) international research experiences for upper-level undergraduates at a chemical engineering school in France, iv) opportunities for graduate students to mentor undergraduate projects, v) improved undergraduate and graduate courses by introducing more problem-solving, laboratories, and real-world problems into to the curriculum.