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Resource (P41) Centers
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Image courtesy of Dr. Mehmet Toner, Biomicroelectromechanical Systems (BioMEMS) Resource Center
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The following is a list of P41 centers in alphabetical order based on the principal investigators' home state.
Arizona | California | Illinois | Massachusetts | Michigan | New Jersey | New York | North Carolina | Pennsylvania | Washington | Wisconsin
Arizona
The primary focus of the Center for Gamma-Ray Imaging (CGRI) is to develop new gamma-ray imaging instruments and techniques that yield substantially improved spatial and temporal resolutions. The Center makes its imagers and expertise available to a wide community of biomedical and clinical researchers through collaborative and service-oriented interactions. The collaborative research applies these new imaging tools to basic research in functional genomics, proteomics, cancer, cardiovascular disease and cognitive neuroscience, and to clinical research in tumor detection and other selected topics. There are five core research projects:
- Detector technology research and development
- Reconstruction algorithms and system modeling
- Data acquisition, signal processing, and system development
- Image-quality assessment and system optimization
- Techniques for molecular imaging
California
The Biomedical Simulations Resource (BMSR) is dedicated to the development of mathematical models and simulations of physiological systems as well as novel modeling methodologies for the experimental study of a number of biological processes. Emphasis is on nonlinear and nonstationary time-series models, with applications to sensory, neuronal and biomechanical systems; sparse-data system modeling, with applications to pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; and modeling of biological control systems, with applications to cardio-respiratory control.
The Resource is focused on the development of NMR spectroscopy for structure determination of proteins in biological supramolecular assemblies. The principal applications are to membrane-associated proteins; however, the approach is generally applicable to polypeptides that cannot be prepared in forms suitable for X-ray crystallography or multidimensional solution NMR spectroscopy. As a result, there are also applications to viruses and other biological systems.
The principal instrumentation consists of high-field NMR spectrometers dedicated to high-resolution solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The spectrometers are capable of the full-range of multiple-resonance experiments on stationary and spinning samples; however, the major emphasis is on methods that utilize mechanically or magnetically oriented samples. Development encompasses preparation of samples, including:
- Expression and purification of membrane proteins
- Design and construction of instrumentation, especially probes
- Implementation of new pulse sequences and other experimental protocols for solid-state NMR spectroscopy
- Calculations for the processing of experimental data and protein structure determination from the orientational constraints derived from these data
The focus of this resource is to develop very high frequency (above 20 MHz) ultrasonic transducers/arrays for applications in medicine and biology that include ophthalmology, dermatology, vascular surgery, and small animal imaging. The research is pursued simultaneously in three directions: novel piezoelectric materials, very high frequency single element transducers and linear arrays, and finite element modeling and material property measurements.
Illinois
The major aim of this resource is the development of instrumentation, analysis techniques, spin probes and spin traps, and methodologies for imaging physiologically relevant aspects of tissue fluids, including high-resolution oxygen maps, with very low frequency electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI). Novel bridges and high-access, low-field magnet/gradient systems have produced physiologically relevant measurements and accommodate a number of resonant structures. The resource is a consortium among the University of Chicago, the University of Denver, and the University of Maryland.
Massachusetts
The BioMEMS Resource Center's mission is to provide biomedical investigators with novel microsystems engineering tools for biological discovery, diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic applications. Thrust areas of interest for the BioMEMS Resource Center are the development of novel living cell-based, lab-on-a-chip type devices for sorting blood cells, for high-throughput biochemistry in small volumes, and for studying cellular behavior in controlled microenvironments.
The focus of this resource is the development and application of state-of-the-art instrumentation for high-field NMR and EPR investigations of diverse biological systems including soluble and membrane proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, cells, and tissues. The experimental facilities include:
- High-resolution spectrometers for solution NMR operating between 360 and 750 MHz with capabilities of triple-resonance gradient experiments
- Solid-state spectrometers in the 200-750 MHz range with magic angle spinning to 35 kHz and down to temperatures of 20 K
- A CW and pulsed EPR spectrometer operating at 140 GHz, with TE001 cylindrical resonators
Major research efforts are concerned with structures of membrane proteins, soluble proteins, and nucleic acids as well as EPR and solid-state NMR of transient intermediates in biochemical reactions.
The focus of this resource is the application to biomedical research of a new generation of secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS), the Multi-Isotope Imaging Mass Spectrometer (MIMS). MIMS is an ion microscope and an ion counter. MIMS provides high mass separation at high transmission (M/lambdaM > 10,000), high spatial resolution (< 40 nm) and has the unique capability of simultaneously recording several atomic mass images. Of the utmost importance, MIMS makes it possible for the first time (and at the intracellular level) to simultaneously image the distribution and measure the accumulation of molecules labeled with any isotopes, in particular with stable isotopes, for example with 15N. Thus, MIMS allows one to study localization, accumulation and turnover of proteins, fats, sugars and foreign molecules in cellular microdomains, donor-receiver cellular trafficking, stem cell nesting and localization of drugs.
The Center is designed to advance the fundamental basis and clinical aspects of tissue engineering, to provide training for investigators and dissemination of scientific findings and new techniques. The expertise and facilities are focused on research, problem solving and training for the biomedical community through an integrated systems approach to the challenges in tissue engineering. A Service Core will enable and facilitate the implementation of solutions that would be impossible to attain from a single laboratory due to the diverse and complex skill sets.
Michigan
The effort of the Center for Neural Communication Technology (CNCT) is aimed at pushing the leading edge of neuroscience by developing increasingly sophisticated devices to implant in the brain. A critical enabling technology will be the next generation of microfabricated neural probes that can interface with the central nervous system at both cellular and network levels. As the premier resource for neural communication technology, CNCT offers a systematic, sequenced research and development program that integrates cutting-edge neurotechnologies with pioneering neuroscience applications. The primary objectives of the CNCT are to: The Center works closely with its collaborators to define, refine, and test new techniques and devices that are directed at providing more powerful neural interfaces. Beyond its core research program, CNCT disseminates the latest information available to its diverse communities; offers training and develops protocols; and provides key services to facilitate device delivery and set benchmarks for performance.
- Develop microscale neural probes, treatments, and methodologies for long-term electrical and chemical interfaces with targeted areas of the brain.
- Integrate these components into devices that can be implanted in the brain, assess their long-term biocompatibility, and explore their performance in a variety of applications.
- Provide service and training to Center participants so they can fully understand and use our devices and methodologies in their research.
- Disseminate research and technology outcomes to collaborators and invited users, the national and international research community, scientific media and educators, NIH/government staff, medical device industry participants, and clinicians.
New Jersey
The Resource "Integrated Technologies for Polymeric Biomaterials" (RESBIO) works to develop integrated tools and technologies that advance the discovery of polymeric biomaterials for regenerative medicine, the delivery of biological agents, and the next generation of medical implants. To achieve its mission, RESBIO's research is focused on the development of combinatorial and computational approaches to biomaterials design and optimization. Within this framework, RESBIO employs and uses:
- Advanced multi-photon confocal laser microscopy to explore, understand, and control the response of cells in contact with artificial surfaces
- Electron microscopy techniques to study the effect of nano-scale surface morphological features on cell behavior
RESBIO research emphasizes the integration of a strong synthetic effort to create new biomaterial candidates with the development of rapid screening techniques for key material and biological properties relevant to the performance of a biomaterial in a given medical application.
New York
The resource focuses on creation and critical applications of quantitative optical instrumentation for biophysical and biomedical research, including multiphoton excitation fluorescence microscopy capable of diffraction-limited 3-D imaging of dynamic processes deep in living cells, tissues and organisms, photochemical micropharmacology by photoactivation of caged reagents, and dynamic ultrasensitive measurements at the single-molecule level. Simultaneous molecular absorption of multiple (2 or more) infrared photons permits quantitative fluorimetric measurements involving standard biological probes and intrinsic cellular fluorophores, with reduced photodamage. We carry out research in photophysical properties of fluorescent molecules undergoing multiphoton excitation to provide a quantitative basis for biological applications. Other research areas include structure sensitive imaging of cell membrane heterogeneity, imaging in brain of energy metabolism dynamics of neurons and astrocytes, tracking of individual macromolecules on cell surfaces with 5 nm spatial sensitivity, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) measurements of the dynamics of diffusion, chemical kinetics, and protein folding. FCS is capable of providing single-molecule sensitivity in solution, and when combined with multiphoton microscopy is applicable in living cells.
The Columbia University Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF) is a dedicated facility for radiobiological research with available ionizing radiations such as protons, alpha particles, and neutrons. RARAF is well-established and highly user-friendly. The focus of RARAF is the development of high-throughput single-cell/single-particle microbeams, which can deliver defined amounts of ionizing radiation into individual cells with a spatial resolution of a few microns or better. The ability of a microbeam to put double strand break damage at any specific known location in a given cell has allowed new approaches to the study of damage signaling.
North Carolina
The goal of CISMM is to develop force technologies applicable over a wide range of biological settings, from the single molecule to the tissue, with integrated systems that orchestrate facile instrument control, multimodal imaging, and analysis through visualization and modeling.
Our Force Microscope Technologies Core designs instruments in an area of science where there are unusual opportunities: the measurement of forces and the integration with optical microscopy. Force technologies play the obvious role of both measuring events in the sample and modifying the sample during the experiment. It is through the microscope that the force data is correlated with simultaneous 3D optical images. The force technology development includes the magnetic bead technology in our 3D Force Microscope project, Atomic Force Microscopy in our nanoManipulator project, and Control Software to drive the instrumentation. This core is focused on providing the physical capability to perform the experiments and probe structure/property correlations.
The Ideal User Interfaces core makes the connection between the user and the instrument, the model building, and the data. This includes control systems that allow the user to move the bead inside the cell culture with a handheld pen and the visualization techniques to view the optical microscope data as a rendered 3D image collocated with the force data.
Using data to create, change, and understand a model is the focus of our Advanced Model Fitting and Analysis core. The quantitative reduction of images to structural, shape, and velocity parameters is the goal of Image Analysis. The immediate understanding of correlations across image fields and between data sets in the challenge of Visualization. The power of combining the strength of a computer science graphics group with a microscopy technology group is most evident in the Graphics Hardware Acceleration project, which seeks to harness the speed of graphics processors for microscope data analysis and simulation.
Our Advanced Technology core pushes the boundaries of the Human Computer Interface through the investigation of improved techniques for the interaction of users with virtual environments, the real time lighting of virtual settings, and the enabling of multi-person collaboration. These techniques are validated and evaluated through physiological measures in virtual environments effectiveness evaluation studies.
Pennsylvania
The focus of this resource is on developing methodologies for the acquisition of morphological, biochemical, cellular, and functional information in living animals using nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS). Novel techniques utilizing multidimensional MR imaging, magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM), and multinuclear in vivo spectroscopy are being applied to a wide range of problems in the biomedical sciences.
Washington
The National ESCA and Surface Analysis Center for Biomedical Problems (NESAC/BIO) provides state-of-the-art surface analysis expertise, instrumentation, experimental protocols, and data analysis methods to address surface-related biomedical problems. NESAC/BIO develops and applies surface science methodologies that produce a full understanding of the surface composition, structure, spatial distribution, and orientation of biomaterials and adsorbed biomolecules. The NESAC/BIO program identifies areas where surface science must evolve to keep pace with the growth in biochemical knowledge and biomaterial fabrication technology, and develops instrumentation, experimental protocols, and data analysis methods to achieve this evolution.
The Resource Facility for Population Kinetics (RFPK) promotes the application of integrated systems modeling in biomedical research by: providing expertise in experimental design, model development and testing, and educational programs, and developing new mathematical/statistical methods for incorporation in state-of-the-art software tools. The Administrative Core of this project is located at the University of Washington. The Resource involves four major institutions (the Universities of Washington, Pittsburgh, Western Australia and Padova), all of which contribute unique expertise to the individual projects.
Wisconsin
- Development of multiquantum Q- and W-band spectrometers, including multiquantum ELDOR, development of time-locked sub-sampling (TLSS) for broadband detection of periodically modulated signals
- Development of loop-gap resonators using finite element modeling of Maxwell's equations
- Application of multifrequency (1 to 100 GHz) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to characterize paramagnetic centers
- Study of relaxation processes using multifrequency pulse saturation recovery
- Use of nitroxide radical spin labels to measure translational and rotational diffusion in biological systems, site-directed spin labeling (SDSL), and use of EPR for the detection of nitric oxide and oxy radicals
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