Live-cell confocal microscopy for integration of engineered devices and neuroscience
Sarah Heilshorn (Materials Sci. & Engineering)
Alex Dunn (Chemical Engineering)
Jennifer Cochran (Bioengineering)
Miriam Goodman (Molec. & Cell. Physiology)
Calvin Kuo (Hematology)
Theo Palmer (Neurosurgery)
Giles Plant (Neurosurgery)
Beth Pruitt (Mechanical Engineering)
Sindy Tang (Mechanical Engineering)

Collaborating faculty from departments in the School of Engineering and School of Medicine will receive funding for a confocal microscope for live cell imaging. Award recipients include Sarah Heilshorn (Materials Science), Andrew Olson (Neuroscience Microscopy Service, School of Medicine), Alex Dunn (Chemical Engineering), Jennifer Cochran (Bioengineering), Miriam Goodman (Molecular and Cellular Physiology), Calvin Kuo (Hematology), Theo Palmer (Neurosurgery), Giles Plant (Neurosurgery), Beth Pruitt, (Mechanical Engineering), and Sindy Tang (Mechanical Engineering). The new confocal microscope will be integrated with bioMEMS, microfluidic devices, nanoprobes, and novel materials, and will be used for high-resolution, time-lapse imaging of neural cell dynamics. The researchers will use the microscope to study a variety of neuroscience problems, including chemotaxis of neural cells, how cells develop in response to physical forces, dynamic cell responses to wounding, axonal regeneration, the development of nano-scale probes for brain tumor targeting and imaging, and engineering of peptides for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.