MRI: Acquisition of a laser scanning confocal microscope for cellular imaging for faculty and students at Baruch College

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An award is made to Baruch College, City University of New York to provide support for the acquisition of an advanced confocal microscopy system with super-resolution capacity. The new system will support the current and foreseeable critical research needs of the faculty in the Department of Natural Sciences, which include multi-color imaging of fixed and live samples, time-lapse imaging, quantitative fluorescence, photo-activation, visualization of subcellular structures and organelles, spectral analysis of bioluminescent organisms, 3-D rendering and imaging of complex tissues. The system's versatility makes it capable of accommodating a wide variety of experimental approaches now and in the future and will maximize the number of researchers at Baruch who can use the new equipment for years to come. In addition to faculty research, the confocal will also be used to train graduate and undergraduate students in modern research practices and technologies as part of individually mentored research and classroom instruction. The new confocal imaging system will be used by at least nine research groups within the Department of Natural Sciences and their collaborators, whose broad and multidisciplinary research objectives include the determination of hormone signaling mechanisms, elucidation of the role of reactive oxygen species in the nervous system, identification of bioluminescence in marine organisms, investigation of melanin in fungal pathogenesis, determination of muscle attachment site selection, elucidation of gene regulatory pathways governing vertebrate differentiation, identification of environmental impacts on insect behavior, and classification of morphological characteristics in speciation. These data will be publicized in the form of peer-reviewed publications and presentations at scientific meetings, as well as directly shared with interested researchers and collaborators.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.