MRI: Acquisition of an ultra-centrifuge by the Natural Sciences department at UVa-Wise

维吉尼亚大学怀斯学院获得了从贝克曼-库尔特公司购买JXN-30混合超高速离心机的合同。这台机器将为容纳多个科学学科的不同部门提供广泛的能力。这台离心机促进并改善了农村公立文理学院现有的强大研究环境，为很少有机会参与科学过程的人口提供服务。随着煤炭经济的衰退，该地区的失业率正在上升，这是一项投资。对社会的好处包括为弗吉尼亚州西南部的阿巴拉契亚地区提供潜在的变革性教育机会，这是对有才华的学生选择在UVA-Wise接受高等教育的投资。当我们教这些学生如何提出开放式问题，然后允许他们使用高端设备和资源时，我们向他们展示了他们有潜力完成更大、更具变革性的项目。UVa-Wise是一所乡村文理学院，致力于为学生提供出色的研究经验，并且经常有超过10%的全日制学生与教师一起参与研究项目。获得这一奖项的三名教员专攻生物和化学。这台离心机将进一步扩大两名研究人员在分子和细胞生物学方面的研究能力，他们研究与DNA修复和RNA加工等基本细胞过程相关的基本问题。化学系将使用该设备帮助生产和测试可能成为抗癌疗法的有机金属化合物。更具体地说，这些科学家和他们的学生将能够在现场进行超离心，进行关键的多聚体分析实验，帮助定义细胞器中的基本RNA加工事件；2 -浓缩新型金属药物，用于抗肿瘤或抗微生物能力的测试；3 -处理水样环境eDNA和/或检测大量药物污染物；4 -处理大量表达重组蛋白的细胞，这有助于阐明DNA切除修复过程的机制。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An award is made to the University of Virginia's College at Wise to purchase a JXN-30 hybrid ultra/high-speed centrifuge from Beckman-Coulter. This machine will offer a wide range of capabilities to a diverse department that houses multiple scientific disciplines. This centrifuge facilitates and improves an existing strong research environment at a rural public liberal arts college that serves a population with few opportunities to participate in the scientific process. It is an investment in a region where unemployment is increasing as the coal-based economy declines. Benefits to society include potentially transformative educational opportunities for the Appalachian region of far southwest Virginia, which are investments in the talented students choosing to pursue higher education at UVA-Wise. When we teach these students how to ask open-ended questions and then allow them to use high-end equipment and resources, we show them they have the potential to complete much larger and more transformative projects. UVa-Wise is a rural liberal arts college dedicated to providing outstanding research experiences to its students, and regularly has more than 10% of full time students involved in research projects with faculty. The three faculty included in this award specialize in Biology and Chemistry. This centrifuge will further expand the research capabilities of two researchers in molecular and cellular biology who address basic questions related to essential cellular processes such as DNA repair and RNA processing. The chemistry faculty will use the equipment to aid in the production and testing of organometallic compounds that may become anti-cancer therapies. More specifically, these scientists and their students will be able to 1 - perform ultra-centrifugation on-site for crucial polysome analysis experiments that help define basic RNA processing events in organelles; 2 - concentrate novel metallo-pharmaceuticals to be tested for anti-tumor or anti-microbial capabilities; 3 - process water samples for environmental eDNA and/or detect numerous pharmaceutical contaminants; and 4 - process large volumes of cells expressing recombinant proteins that can help elucidate the mechanisms of the DNA excision repair process.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.