MRI/RUI: Acquisition of Confocal Microscopy for Life Science Research and Cal State Fullerton

Csu Fullerton Auxiliary Services Corporation, Fullerton CA

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to California State University, Fullerton under the direction of Dr. Robert Koch to bring confocal microscopy to the research and research training activities of the life sciences faculty in the Departments of Biological Science and Chemistry & Biochemistry at Cal State Fullerton. This acquisition will bring the fundamental research tool of confocal scanning laser microscopy to the study of cell function by the faculty and students at Cal State Fullerton in keeping with its serious commitment to research and research training. The establishment of the Confocal Microscopy Laboratory will advance the collaborative research of faculty with their students in fields like cell biology with the study of cell signaling and cytoskeletal reorganization in ascidian sperm cells, neurobiology with the study of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor diversity in molluscan neurons, molecular microbiology with the study of mechanisms for bacterial resistance to antibiotics, developmental biology with the study of muscle development in nematodes, biochemistry with the study copper and iron transport in intestine and mammary glands, biology of aging with the study of superoxide dismutase expression in nematodes, comparative physiology with the study of muscle fiber development and endothermy in fishes, and physiological ecology with the study of gut structure in carnivorous and herbivorous fishes. The new research programs made possible by this grant will benefit all students, but, because Cal State Fullerton is a Hispanic serving institution, it will have a particularly important impact on minority student research training programs like Minority Access to Research Careers, Initiative for Minority Student Development, Minority International Research Travel, Bridges-to-the-Doctorate, McNair Scholars, or Undergraduate Mentorship in Environmental Biology where as many as forty minority students per year will have access to the new instrumentation. This grant has the potential to impact more than 600 students per year who go through undergraduate and masters level curricula in the two departments involved. Thus, the establishment of the Confocal Microscopy Laboratory will have a tremendous influence on research and research training activities as well as on the overall educational experience in the life sciences at Cal State Fullerton.