MRI: Acquisition of a Fully-Motorized Research Microscope at Fairfield University Project Description

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An award is made to Fairfield University to fund an automated research microscope. This instrument enables projects that require detailed observations of subcellular structures, real-time imaging, and three-dimensional reconstructions of thick tissues. These sophisticated imaging techniques will be incorporated into the biology lab coursework for undergraduate science majors at Fairfield University. In addition science majors that do independent research with faculty will have access to state-of-the-art technology that both empowers their research and serves as a crucial training tool. Fairfield University has a long-standing commitment to promote science education for high school students from underserved communities through BASE Camp, a program that brings high school girls to the Fairfield University campus for summer research experiences. BASE camp students will also use this microscope in their research projects. The ability to capture detailed images of otherwise invisible subjects is awe-inspiring to students of all ages, and increases the impact of research experience on education and on attitudes toward science.A staggering breadth of research on the Fairfield campus will benefit from this instrument. It will be used to study how Candida albicans, a pathogenic fungus, constructs a biofilm and will enable researchers to visualize real-time responses to agents that disrupt biofilms. In addition it will be used to observe the subcellular localization of engineered enzymes that fluoresce upon activation. The microscope is a versatile instrument that is capable of capturing three-dimensional images of large complex organs such as the gonad in live C. elegans nematode worms. Researchers will use the C. elegans gonad to study how the regulation of microtubule motors impacts architecture of an intricate tissue. The microscope will also be used to study human cells. For example in one study users will examine how lipid raft distribution responds to dietary intervention in ex vivo peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In a different study, researchers will monitor a human cancer cell line's response to potential anti-cancer agents. These inquiries traverse the fields of genetics, development, biochemistry, metabolism, microbiology, and cancer biology, and will lead to exciting discoveries and new research trajectories.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.