14 recipients will acquire technology such as seven-tesla MRI systems, high-end electron microscopes, and DNA-sequencing instrumentation.

The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) is providing $20.65 million for 14 High-End Instrumentation (HEI) grants to fund biomedical research equipment. U.S. institutions thus will be able to purchase instruments costing over $750,000 with these one-time grants.


“These high-performance imaging instruments and other advanced technologies enable both basic discoveries that shed light on the underlying causes of disease and the development of novel therapies to treat them,” Barbara Alving, M.D., NCRR director, comments.


Nashville’s Vanderbilt University will acquire a seven-tesla MRI and spectroscopy system. The University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio will obtain a high-field seven-tesla MRI scanner capable of performing functional brain and cardiac imaging in a variety of animal species, according to the NCRR.


Meanwhile, several three-tesla MRI scanners will be used to develop minimally invasive therapies at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and by Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research.


Additionally, nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers will be supported to probe intermolecular interactions at Burnham Institute for Medical Research and to research protein structure, function, and folding at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Dentistry.


Three high-performance, hybrid linear ion trap-Fourier transform mass spectrometers will be funded. One will be located at Johns Hopkins University primarily to benefit researchers investigating ischemia and hypoxia. Another at The University of Arizona at Tucson will enable structural studies of proteins and the third at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center will facilitate cancer research among other studies.


Also, a pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance/X-band electron nuclear double resonance spectrometer will be purchased by the University of Washington in Seattle, to study the function of enzymes, structural proteins, and proteins at DNA and RNA interfaces.


Another award will support the University of California, San Diego, in its purchase of a high-performance, intermediate voltage transmission electron microscope to enable 3-D imaging of sections of cells and biological tissues. Also funded is a confocal imaging system at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute to enable the study of calcium signaling in living cells as well as investigations involving neuronal and brain slice imaging.


At the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, PET tracer development and production equipment will be purchased to facilitate research involving cancer, neuroscience, cardiovascular, and regenerative medicine.


Finally, Yale University will acquire new DNA-sequencing instrumentation to assist investigations involving epilepsy, psychiatric disorders, autism, cardiovascular disorders, and cancer.

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