MRI:Acquisition of a Zeiss LSM 880 confocal microscope with Airyscan for research and training at North Carolina State University.

An award is made to North Carolina State University (NCSU) to acquire a state-of the art confocal microscope in order train a well-prepared and knowledgeable workforce, as well as to conduct world-class research. This instrument will be used to train undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs in quantitative fluorescence microscopy applications and single molecule counting. The microscope will be located within the Cellular and Molecular Imaging Facility (CMIF), a University-administered core research facility that serves researchers from six NCSU colleges and from neighboring institutions and local industries. This system will expose students to state-of-the-art imaging applications via a new course (Quantitative Imaging and Dynamics in Biology), other established courses (BIT595 Confocal Microscopy and BIT 478/578 Mapping the Brain), and during direct undergraduate research experiences. In addition, a new and innovative Light Microscopy Workshop will serve under-represented students from local Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and a local women's college in North Carolina. By exposing traditionally underrepresented students to cutting edge research and technology, NCSU intends to broaden interest in and to improve STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education. This innovative program will i) expose students across the region to advanced imaging technologies that are not available at their home institutions; ii) introduce students at institutions lacking comprehensive research programs to ongoing research at NCSU; and iii) integrate and strengthen existing collaborations between NCSU and partnering institutions. NCSU will partner with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences to share imaging results via presentations and hands-on educational activities led by Workshop participants as well as students and postdocs from NCSU laboratories.

The state of the confocal microscope will impact research and training programs across six NCSU colleges and numerous disciplines, including Cell and Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Animal and Plant Developmental Biology, Plant Pathology, and Bio-Engineering, among others. This instrument will enable NCSU faculty and students to i) perform measurements with increased sensitivity and discrimination; ii) obtain fast temporal and spatial data; and iii) image live biological samples for longer times with reduced phototoxicity. These capabilities will impact, among others, research programs in plant vacuole biogenesis and dynamics, stem cell maintenance in plants, long-range signaling in the Drosophila embryo, and cell signaling during animal cell migration.