Planning Grant: I/UCRC for Microbial Forensics

该项目将帮助规划一个潜在的微生物取证的NSF I/UCRC，以填补该领域进一步发展所需的差距，包括开发新技术开发、严格测试和验证技术以及流程标准化。它将在一个统一的旗帜下做到这一点，学术界、工业界和政府利益攸关方都会参与进来。因此，它将成为一个跨学科研究和交流的国家平台，负责调查与执法和国家安全相关的自然微生物现象，着眼于国家的商业化和经济发展。尽管微生物取证领域还很年轻，但它的潜力是令人兴奋的：人体内细菌的数量是人类细胞的十倍，这大大增加了侦测和确定犯罪行为、追踪个人和材料，甚至利用微生物作为哨兵或记录过去事件的机会。微生物学的基本问题仍然存在，并且对人类健康、农业、国家安全、工业和环境具有广泛的意义。将这些技术应用于取证领域，以其独特的应用和要求，将支持和推动所有这些努力。这个拟议中心的研究目标与这些需求非常一致。该中心将利用目前在获奖机构进行的现有努力，招聘和培训法医科学领域任职人数不足的少数群体和妇女。具体地说，PI将通过瞄准和利用医学和分子遗传学系与历史上为黑人和少数族裔服务的本科院校之间现有的学士至硕士3+2协议，招募代表人数不足的少数族裔和女性进入中心。该中心将能够为这些学生和其他专业硕士学位课程的学生提供研究机会，该专业硕士学位课程的人口主要是少数族裔，绝大多数是女性。将为获奖机构的夏季多元文化促进研究培训(SMART)项目的参与者提供外展和研究机会，目标是在夏季将本科生带到校园进行为期10周的研究机会。除了研究机会，学生还将获得宝贵的行业相关应用研究经验和与行业代表建立网络的机会，以便为最终就业利用这些经验。

This project will help plan for a potential NSF I/UCRC for Microbial Forensics, in order to address the gaps necessary for the further development of the field, including the exploitation of new technological developments, the rigorous testing and validation of techniques, and the standardization of processes. It will do this under a unified banner, with input from academia, industry, and government stakeholders. As a result it will serve as a national platform for interdisciplinary research and communication, charged with investigating natural microbial phenomena relevant to law enforcement and national security, with an eye towards commercialization and economic development for the nation. Though the field of microbial forensics is young, the potential is exciting: ten times the number of bacteria as human cells in the body provides dramatically increased opportunities for detection and attribution of crimes, the tracking of individuals and materials, and even the utilization of microbes as sentinels or recordings of past events. Fundamental questions in microbiology remain and are of broad significance to human health, agriculture, national security, industry, and the environment. Application of these technologies to the field of forensics, with its unique applications and requirements, will support and advance all of these endeavors. This proposed Center's research goals are well aligned with these needs. The Center will leverage existing efforts currently underway at awardee institution for the recruitment and training of underrepresented minorities and women in the forensic sciences. Specifically, the PI will recruit underrepresented minorities and women to the Center by targeting and leveraging existing Bachelors-to-Masters 3+2 agreements between the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics and historically black and minority serving undergraduate institutions. The Center will be able to provide research opportunities to these students and others in a Professional Master's Degree Program, the population of which is heavily minority and overwhelmingly female. Outreach and research opportunities to participants of the awardee institution's Summer Multicultural Advancement Research Training (SMART) Program will be provided with a goal to bring undergraduate students to the campus for 10-week research opportunities during the summer. In addition to the research opportunities, students will also receive invaluable experience in industry relevant applied research and network opportunities with industry representative in order to capitalize on these experiences for their eventual employment.