A Core Equipment Facility for Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Montana State University, Bozeman MT

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides support for purchase of equipment to be used to establish a multi-user, integrated core equipment facility for cellular and molecular biological research. The equipment includes centrifuges, a microinjection apparatus, a spectrophotomer and an inverted microscope. The facility will be shared by faculty in two departments: a newly formed Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience and an existing Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. A shared focus of all these investigators is the elucidation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neural development and/or nerve regeneration. All are now physically located in adjacent labs, and given the overlap in their research methodologies, will be able to share the equipment supported through this award.. Some of the major equipment items requested would replace existing items that are close to 25 years old and in serious disrepair, while others will provide new or expanded capabilities. All major users are members of the NSF sponsored IGERT doctoral training program at the University. This program in Complex Biological Systems is designed to train graduate students to approach biological problems from a multitude of levels, from the molecular to the systems level, using a variety of approaches drawn from cellular and molecular biology, structural biology, computational biology and systems neuroscience. Thus the IGERT trainees will benefit considerably from access to the equipment which will be used in both course work and in thesis research. The equipment will also be available for use by a number of undergraduate students who undertake independent research projects as part of their education.