2006 — 2007 |
Myhr, Karen L |
R21Activity Code Description: To encourage the development of new research activities in categorical program areas. (Support generally is restricted in level of support and in time.) |
Novel Gene Expression Assay in Living Neuronal Subtypes
[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In many diseases the function of subsets of cells is disrupted, e.g. the selective death of dopamine-containing neurons in Parkinson's disease, or the subsets of cells that become cancerous amidst healthy cells. The tissues of the body are complex heterogeneous mixtures of cell types, each with its own gene expression pattern, and concomitant biological function and vulnerability to disease. Comparing the differential gene expression profiles in cells that play different biological roles or have different vulnerability to disease would elucidate how gene expression generates those differences. The limitations of current technologies prevent the achievement of this important goal. We need gene expression markers to identify subpopulations of cells to target those cells for individual biological study. Other assays require many cells, such as biochemical tests and tests to determine an entire gene expression profile. Therefore, we also need techniques to collect many cells that express a subtype marker. We propose here to combine two established technologies to find gene expression markers of subtypes of cells, and to collect populations of cells based on gene expression. Subtypes of neurons are often identified by their characteristic shapes, therefore the technology to find markers for neuron subtypes will relate the shape of a cell to its expression of the gene marker. This will be accomplished by gene gun delivery of fluorescent dye simultaneously with molecules that fluoresce only in the presence of their target mRNA. The dye will fill the neurons to illuminate their shapes, while the gene expression marker will indicate whether its target gene is expressed in that cell. These markers can then be used to target subtypes of cells for individual study. Furthermore, the mixture of marked and unmarked cells in a tissue can be dissociated and sorted using fluorescence-activated cell sorting into groups. This collection of purified populations of cells of individual subtypes will enable the biochemical and gene expression profile studies necessary to understand how gene expression leads to the unique biological function or dysfunction of each cell subtypes. The development of these novel techniques will revolutionize the study of how gene expression generates biological differences. [unreadable] [unreadable]
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1 |
2013 — 2016 |
Myhr, Karen Feig, Andrew [⬀] Bruner, Robert (co-PI) [⬀] Hoffmann, Peter (co-PI) [⬀] Ouellett, Mathew |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Wider Planning Grant: Evaluation of Wsu Use of Evidence-Based Methods in Stem Instruction
Wayne State University (WSU) is an urban research-intensive university whose student body reflects the diversity of the metro Detroit area. The primary goal of this project is to support the broad implementation of Evidence-Based Teaching Methods (EBTMs) across the STEM disciplines on campus, and by doing so, to support student persistence within STEM majors, improve the 6-year graduation rate of STEM undergraduates, and enable graduates to be more effective in the 21st century workplace.
Phase 1 of the project involves a critical self-assessment of current teaching practices on campus including STEM faculty attitudes toward and knowledge of EBTMs. Comparisons of self-reported usage of EBTMs to classroom video observations scored using objective measures of classroom activity take place during this phase. In phase 2, the development and implementation of a series of professional development activities aim at broadening the awareness of EBTMs and assisting faculty with their adoption. Additional survey work will assess the impact of the interventions on attitudes and observational work on classroom pedagogy usage. Phase 3 involves the development of an institutional plan for the broad implementation across the 26 foundational courses identified in 4 primary disciplines (Biology, Chemistry, Math and Physics) with an enrollment of approximately 7000 students per semester. Concurrently during the 3-phase plan, metrics for longitudinal tracking of students through the STEM curricula will be developed to: a) understand better how students interface with the degree programs; b) identify critical points within our majors where specific interventions can be developed to improve student outcomes; and c) determine if appropriate developmental curricula are in place and whether the appropriate guidance is provided to students in a timely fashion to maximize student success.
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0.915 |
2015 — 2020 |
Myhr, Karen Feig, Andrew [⬀] Bruner, Robert (co-PI) [⬀] Hoffmann, Peter (co-PI) [⬀] Ouellett, Mathew |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Wsu - Student Success Through Evidence-Based Pedagogies (Wsu-Sstep)
This is an institutional transformation project. It continues work initiated under a planning grant from an earlier NSF program. The project supports a commitment by this university to increasing substantially the use of evidence-based teaching for foundational STEM courses. With this project, the core STEM Departments and the University's administration plan to fully utilize evidence-based teaching methods in lower division courses and study the impact on student achievement. The implementation of this plan allows a test of impact on a student body that is disproportionately non-traditional (50%) and comprised of many underrepresented minority students (25%). Non-traditional and minority students represent an increasing demographic nationwide and their needs must be addressed in order to meet the goal of increasing the number of STEM degree recipients. Heretofore, evidence-based teaching methods have been studied much more extensively on campuses with traditional student populations. The planning grant supported a self-assessment by STEM faculty instructors of their teaching, aided by peer-mentor-led learning communities and departmental conversations on teaching reforms. It initiated a set of pilot interventions in foundational STEM courses in core STEM departments, using professional development workshops to support faculty engagement with the initiative. A recently completed university-wide strategic planning process pinpointed the importance of adopting evidence-based teaching methods to improve student success. This team is well-positioned to move to scale in developing evidenced-based teaching approaches for its STEM courses, with priority given to the 26 foundational classes.
The program supported by this grant will allow departments to compete for course transformation grants. Successful projects will be provided resources in the form of a pedagogical post-doc and faculty professional development stipends to assist them in reformulating the class from a lecture-based curriculum to one dominated by active-engagement methods. Faculty involved in the concurrent projects will comprise a learning community to discuss issues relating to the implementation of evidence-based teaching and their reflections on student learning. Longitudinal tracking will follow students through to graduation, to assess the impact on academic and career trajectories of the students enrolled in the transformed courses. A large part of the present project pertains to data collection and assessment of project efforts. These data will be documented and shared to ensure that other institutions can learn from this institutional transformation effort. Through this program, students will experience engaged learning, and faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students will be trained in modern evidence-based teaching methods. These students and fellows will be able to bring their training and experiences to other institutions and serve to build a national pool of experienced teachers using engaging and effective teaching methods.
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0.915 |