MRI: Acquisition of an integrated Confocal and TIRF fluorescence microscope for multidisciplinary research and teaching at Barnard College

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An award is made to Barnard College to purchase a multi-functional fluorescence microscope. As a liberal arts college for women, Barnard is committed to training the next generation of female scientists. Toward this goal, science majors often spend several years working in a research lab in addition to their upper-level laboratory coursework. In both of these settings, technologically advanced instrumentation, like the microscope purchased with this award, provide important hands-on training for students. Among the undergraduate women who will use the microscope are students in the Science Pathways Scholars Program at Barnard. This program is embedded in the college's research mission and provides financial support and training opportunities to students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the sciences.The microscope has specialized capabilities for imaging cells and tissues and for observing single biological molecules in action. This instrument acquisition will benefit research in three departments at Barnard. One group in biology will use the microscope to track specific cells and their offspring during mouse development. Another biology group will look at honeybee guts to understand how parasites colonize this environmentally-important insect. Two faculty from neuroscience will observe brain structures that are related to circadian rhythms and to fear and anxiety. In the chemistry department, research groups will use the microscope to study proteins that are associated with hereditary deafness as well as a protein that has a role in the neurotoxicity of lead exposure. Cutting-edge microscopy will positively impact research and undergraduate science education at Barnard.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.