Planning Grant: I/UCRC for Microbial Forensics

规划补助金：I/UCRC 微生物法证学

• 批准号: 1540038
• 负责人: Michael Allen
• 金额: $ 1.45万
• 依托单位: University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-15 至 2017-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1540038&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Planning; Grant; UCRC; Microbial; Forensics

This project will help plan for a potential NSF I/UCRC for Microbial Forensics, in order to address the gaps necessary for the further development of the field, including the exploitation of new technological developments, the rigorous testing and validation of techniques, and the standardization of processes. It will do this under a unified banner, with input from academia, industry, and government stakeholders. As a result it will serve as a national platform for interdisciplinary research and communication, charged with investigating natural microbial phenomena relevant to law enforcement and national security, with an eye towards commercialization and economic development for the nation. Though the field of microbial forensics is young, the potential is exciting: ten times the number of bacteria as human cells in the body provides dramatically increased opportunities for detection and attribution of crimes, the tracking of individuals and materials, and even the utilization of microbes as sentinels or recordings of past events. Fundamental questions in microbiology remain and are of broad significance to human health, agriculture, national security, industry, and the environment. Application of these technologies to the field of forensics, with its unique applications and requirements, will support and advance all of these endeavors. This proposed Center's research goals are well aligned with these needs. The Center will leverage existing efforts currently underway at awardee institution for the recruitment and training of underrepresented minorities and women in the forensic sciences. Specifically, the PI will recruit underrepresented minorities and women to the Center by targeting and leveraging existing Bachelors-to-Masters 3+2 agreements between the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics and historically black and minority serving undergraduate institutions. The Center will be able to provide research opportunities to these students and others in a Professional Master's Degree Program, the population of which is heavily minority and overwhelmingly female. Outreach and research opportunities to participants of the awardee institution's Summer Multicultural Advancement Research Training (SMART) Program will be provided with a goal to bring undergraduate students to the campus for 10-week research opportunities during the summer. In addition to the research opportunities, students will also receive invaluable experience in industry relevant applied research and network opportunities with industry representative in order to capitalize on these experiences for their eventual employment.

该项目将有助于规划潜在的NSF I/UCRC微生物法医学，以解决该领域进一步发展所需的差距，包括利用新技术发展，严格的测试和技术验证以及流程标准化。它将在一个统一的旗帜下，在学术界、工业界和政府利益相关者的投入下这样做。因此，它将成为跨学科研究和交流的国家平台，负责调查与执法和国家安全相关的自然微生物现象，着眼于国家的商业化和经济发展。虽然微生物法医学领域还很年轻，但其潜力是令人兴奋的：人体内细菌数量是人类细胞的十倍，这为犯罪的检测和归因，个人和材料的跟踪，甚至利用微生物作为哨兵或过去事件的记录提供了显着增加的机会。微生物学的基本问题仍然存在，对人类健康、农业、国家安全、工业和环境具有广泛的意义。将这些技术应用于法医领域，以其独特的应用和要求，将支持和推动所有这些努力。该中心的研究目标与这些需求完全一致。该中心将利用获奖机构目前正在进行的现有努力，招聘和培训法医科学中代表性不足的少数民族和妇女。具体而言，PI将通过瞄准和利用医学和分子遗传学系与历史上的黑人和少数民族服务本科院校之间现有的学士到硕士3+2协议，招募代表性不足的少数民族和妇女到中心。该中心将能够提供研究机会，这些学生和其他专业硕士学位课程，其中人口是严重少数民族和绝大多数女性。将为获奖机构的夏季多元文化发展研究培训（SMART）计划的参与者提供外联和研究机会，目标是在夏季将本科生带到校园进行为期10周的研究机会。除了研究机会外，学生还将获得与行业相关的应用研究方面的宝贵经验，并与行业代表建立联系的机会，以便利用这些经验最终就业。