Micro-and Nano-space Explorations of Health and Disease

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The unseen world, both living and non-living, at the micro-scale and the nano-scale has inordinate importance for health and disease and is only made visible in detail through the appropriate tools of microscopy. In this project University of Southern Maine (USM) faculty and staff with expertise in electron microscopy, microbiology, virology, and immunology team up with elementary and middle school education and outreach specialists and the staff of USM's Southworth Planetarium to reveal vast but usually invisible micro-space/nano-space worlds to grades 3-8 students and K-12 teachers and ultimately to bring these worlds to students across Maine and the nation. Starting with macroscopic and multi-sensory observations, the project staff (during Phase I) will enhance visual perception of program participants by more than five orders of magnitude using USM microscopy resources including a new Tecnai BioTwin fully digital transmission electron microscope (TEM) with advanced tomography capabilities in the USM Virology and TEM Laboratory which the PI directs. Phase I of the project (years 1 to 3) will emphasize collaboration of biomedical sciences faculty and staff, K-12 participants, and the staff of USM's Southworth Planetarium on curriculum materials and production of visual resources for far-reaching educational outreach. Phase II of the project will focus on dissemination of curricula and other products of the project while expanding outreach efforts throughout Maine and integrating the academic year programs for K-12 teachers into the academic offerings of the Department of Applied Medical Sciences.