MRI: Acquisition of a Bio-AFM for Life Science and Soft Matter Research and Research Training in New Mexico

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An award is made to New Mexico State University (NMSU) to purchase a Bio-AFM microscope comprising a NanoWizard 4 XP atomic force microscope integrated with an inverted OLYMPUS IX73 fluorescence microscope. This instrument will support the research and training of investigators and students in the state of New Mexico at three Hispanic-serving institutions that also serve Native American students from the region: New Mexico State University in Las Cruces (NMSU); New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro (NMT); Eastern New Mexico University in Portales (ENMU). The equipment will foster inclusion and build the STEM workforce through the participation of women and underrepresented minority faculty and staff from over fifteen departments and their diverse student mentees as members of the Bio-AFM User Collective. Undergraduate and graduate students will be recruited and trained through workshops and activities offered in partnership with programs whose mission is to broaden participation in STEM research such as NSF LS-AMP, the College Assistance Migrant Program, and NIH RISE and MARC. Academic courses offered through Biology, Mechanical Engineering, and Molecular Biology, will formally develop student expertise by emphasizing theory and experimental design as well as hands-on research with the Bio-AFM. In addition, a partnership with the NMSU student business accelerator program, the Arrowhead Center, will encourage student innovation in the use of Bio-AFM for biotechnology start-ups. Training of diverse students in biomechanics and interdisciplinary research will impart skills that will build competitiveness and expertise for the modern STEM workforce in basic science, biotechnology, and bioengineering fields.The Bio-AFM is a critical tool for life science and soft materials research that permits high resolution imaging under physiological conditions for studies of the mechanical properties and responses of cells and tissues. The instrument will build research capacity at institutions in New Mexico and will increase investigator competitiveness in a broad range of disciplines such as molecular dynamics, biotechnology, cell and developmental biology, microbiology, phycology, reproductive biology, neuroscience, physiology, and bioengineering. Access to the Bio-AFM system will foster interdisciplinary research and will enable researchers and students at the three minority-serving partner institutions to conduct relevant, impactful, and cutting-edge research in microbial, plant, and animal systems. Their discoveries will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journal articles and presentations at scientific conferences.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.