INBRE: USC BEAUFORT: FACULTY AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT

这个子项目是利用资源的许多研究子项目之一。 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。对子项目的主要支持 子项目的首席调查员可能是由其他来源提供的， 包括美国国立卫生研究院的其他来源。为子项目列出的总成本可能 表示该子项目使用的中心基础设施的估计数量， 不是由NCRR赠款提供给次级项目或次级项目工作人员的直接资金。 南卡罗来纳州博福特大学(USCB)建议扩大USCB的教员队伍，将培养医学预科学生和其他职业预科学生所需的生物医学领域的专业知识包括在内，并培养一批研究兴趣位于结构生物学领域的教员。最近在USCB课程中增加了专业前辅导，激发了学生对医学和牙科预科课程的浓厚兴趣。为了满足这些教学需求，需要扩大师资队伍，包括更多生物化学和解剖学领域的专业知识。此外，南卡罗来纳州组织工程倡议将要求学生接受特别是结构生物学领域的培训。拥有一群兴趣相似的教员将使研究人员的工作效率达到最佳水平。拥有相似兴趣的教职员工团体为合作研究打开了大门，这在一所教学负担沉重的机构具有特殊价值。我们建议培养一批对结构生物学感兴趣的教员，包括PI和两名新员工，并在这一团队中增加一组外部顾问，他们也将担任新员工的导师。开发一个以组织工程为重点的结构生物学研究计划，将培训来自不同背景的学生在研究理论和技术方面。虽然新的终身教职轨道教师将有望开发独立的研究计划，但他们也可能在SC组织工程倡议中发挥作用。来自USCB的学生将被招募为研究助理，而来自附近低地国家技术学院的学生将作为实习生和研究技术人员在项目实验室工作。为了给新教师和他们的学生提供必要的基础设施和环境，USCB将建立一个成像核心设施，包括激光扫描共焦显微镜、相位/荧光显微镜和倒置组织培养显微镜。这一设施将向该系的所有教职员工开放。此外，还将与南卡罗来纳医科大学建立合作伙伴关系，使USCB的教职员工能够使用MUSC的世界级成像和结构分析设备，包括X射线结晶学、核磁共振、蛋白质纯化和结晶、电子显微镜和组织学。 USCB的学生将被招募到新招聘的实验室担任研究助理，他们将参与从实验理论和设计到结果发布的方方面面的研究，在日常实验中与他们的导师并肩工作。此外，USCB还与低地国家技术学院(TCL)建立了联系，TCL是一所小型的两年制院校，其校园非常靠近USCB的南北校区。TCL的学生甚至比USCB更多的学生来自贫困家庭和少数族裔群体(2008年，少数族裔学生占48%)。为了应对生物技术行业对训练有素的劳动力日益增长的需求，TCL最近开始了一项为期两年的证书计划，以培训入门级技术人员。拟议的合作伙伴关系将为TCL学生在USCB教师的实验室建立实习机会，将在这个低国家培养一支训练有素的生物技术劳动力队伍。这一合作关系将由TCL的生物技术项目负责人约瑟夫·贝利博士负责监督。 除了拟议的培训计划外，USCB和TCL还建立了几个与这一提议相关的其他合作伙伴关系和协议。一项新的联合计划已经开始(护照)，允许申请USCB但缺乏某些高中课程要求的学生，在其他方面有资格入学的学生，可以参加TCL一到两年的课程学习。这些学生是在TCL的USCB学生，并由USCB人员提供建议。他们在完成所需课程后转到USCB上课。此外，TCL计划建立一个两年制的应用科学副学士学位，这可能会导致与南卡罗来纳州的一所四年制大学建立联系；TCL靠近USCB(两个Bluffton校区相距不到一英里)，使USCB成为此类协议的理想合作伙伴。由于USCB的许多少数族裔申请者需要一点额外的课程帮助才能获得录取，这些协议有望增强我们当地少数族裔学生满足USCB要求的能力，从而增加该大学的少数族裔入学人数。我们预计，这些协议还将增加USCB STEM相关学位项目的少数族裔学生招生人数，并增加有兴趣在该项目的结构生物学实验室工作的少数族裔学生。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. The University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) proposes to expand the USCB faculty to include expertise in biomedical fields necessary for training of premedical and other pre-professional students, and to develop a cluster of faculty whose research interests lie in the area of structural biology. The recent addition of pre-professional advisement to the USCB curriculum has stimulated intense interest among the students in pre-medical and pre-dental curricula. To meet these teaching needs, the faculty needs to be expanded to include more expertise in the areas of biochemistry and anatomy. In addition, the South Carolina Tissue Engineering Initiative will require students trained particularly in the area of structural biology. Having a group of faculty with similar interests will allow researchers to be optimally productive. Groups of faculty with similar interests a open the door to collaborative research, something that has particular value at an institution with a heavy teaching load. We propose to develop a cluster of faculty with interests in structural biology, to include the PI and two new hires, and to augment this cluster with a group of external advisors who will also act as mentors to the new hires. To develop a research program in structural biology, focused on tissue engineering, that will train students from diverse backgrounds in research theory and technique. While the new tenure-track faculty hires will be expected to develop independent research programs, they may also play a role in the SC Tissue Engineering initiative. Students from USCB will be recruited as research assistants, while students from the nearby Technical College of the Lowcountry will work in program laboratories as interns and research technicians. In order to provide the necessary infrastructure and environment for the new faculty and their students, USCB will establish an Imaging Core Facility, containing a laser scanning confocal microscope, a phase/fluorescence microscope, and inverted tissue culture microscopes. This facility will be available to all faculty in the department. In addition, a partnership with the Medical University of South Carolina will be implemented, allowing USCB faculty access to the world class imaging and structural analysis equipment at MUSC, including X-ray crystallography, NMR, protein purification and crystallization, electron microscopy, and histology. Students from USCB will be recruited to serve as research assistants in the laboratories of the new hires, and will be involved in all aspects of research, from experimental theory and design to publication of results, working side-by-side with their mentors in the daily conduction of experiments. In addition, USCB has established a connection with The Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL), a small two year institution with campuses in close proximity to the north and south campuses of USCB. Students at TCL, even more than at USCB, come from impoverished homes, and from minority racial groups (48% minority students in 2008). In response to the growing need for a trained workforce in the biotechnology industry, TCL has recently begun a 2 year certificate program to train entry level technicians. The proposed partnership, which will establish internships for TCL students in the laboratories of USCB faculty, will result in a well trained biotechnology workforce in the Lowcountry. This partnership will be overseen at TCL by Dr. Joseph Bailey, the head of the biotechnology program. In addition to the proposed training program, USCB and TCL have formed several other partnerships and agreements that are relevant to this proposal. A new joint program has begun (PASSPORT) that allows students who apply to USCB but are lacking certain high school course requirements, who are otherwise qualified for admission, to attend TCL for one or two years to make up the coursework. These students are USCB students while at TCL, and are advised by USCB personnel. They switch to classes at USCB when the required courses are completed. In addition, TCL envisages establishing a 2 year Associate of Applied Science degree which could lead to an articulation with a 4 year university within South Carolina; TCL's proximity to USCB (the two Bluffton campuses are within one mile of each other) makes USCB an ideal partner for such an agreement. Since many of the minority applicants to USCB need a little additional help with coursework to be competitive for admission, these agreements are expected to enhance the ability of our local minority students to meet USCB requirements, and thereby increase the minority enrollment at the university. We anticipate that these agreements will also increase enrollment of minority students in USCB's STEM related degree programs, and increase the pool of minority students interested in working in the structural biology laboratories of this program.