Research Initiation Award: Leveraging Protein Structure Determination: An Efficient Algorithmic Approach

研究启动奖（RIAs）为传统黑人学院和大学（HBCUs）中开始建立研究项目的初级教师提供支持，也为需要重新指导和重建研究项目的职业中期教师提供支持。期望该奖项有助于进一步提高教师的研究能力和效率，改善研究人员所在机构的研究和教学，并使本科生参与研究经验。传统上，生物物理学实验技术已被用于确定蛋白质分子的结构。田纳西州立大学（TSU） HBCU-UP RIA项目的目标是通过计算预测难以通过实验确定的蛋白质结构。该项目的目标是1)开发有效的算法，从蛋白质大分子的3D冷冻电镜图像中提取特征，处理和分析，2)使用他们的冷冻电镜图像建模蛋白质大分子。该项目的教育目标是让学生接触多学科研究，使用动手的方法，使他们在生物信息学的各个领域与工业界或学术界的同龄人竞争。教育方法和评估将有力地支持田纳西州立大学（TSU）的课程调整，并作为其他HBCU机构的典范。这项研究的结果有可能对医学和卫生领域作出贡献。

Research Initiation Awards (RIAs) provide support for junior faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) who are starting to build a research program, as well as for mid-career faculty who need to re-direct and re-build a research program. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at the researcher's home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences.Traditionally, biophysics experimental techniques have been used to determine the structures of protein molecules. The goal of Tennessee State University's (TSU) HBCU-UP RIA project is to computationally predict the structure of proteins that are difficult to determine experimentally. The project's objectives are to 1) develop efficient algorithms to extract features from, process, and analyze the 3D cryo-EM images of protein macromolecules and 2) model protein macromolecules using their cryo-EM images. The educational goal of the project is to expose students to multidisciplinary research using a hands-on approach to prepare them to compete with their peers in industry or academia in various areas of bioinformatics. The educational approach and assessment will strongly support the curriculum modulation at Tennessee State University (TSU) and serve as a model for other HBCU institutions.The outcome of the research has the potential for contributions to the fields of medicine and health.