Ali Khan - US grants

The project aims to address student retention and graduation in STEM by providing innovative teaching technologies in introductory mathematics courses, a pre-freshman summer bridge, undergraduate research opportunities, faculty development workshops, and graduate school preparation activities in the STEM academic programs at Elizabeth City State University. This project will emphasize learning with technology, content and pedagogy for inquiry-based learning, and faculty professional development in new media and instructional technology to raise achievement of STEM majors and non-STEM majors in the algebra, pre-calculus and calculus courses. Faculty learning communities will be created to support faculty in developing problem-based learning pedagogies and use of new media and instructional technology, and techniques to integrate successful practices into effective teaching and learning for STEM students. The pre-freshman summer bridge, a STEM freshman seminar course, a special college algebra course for STEM majors, and a STEM learning community through peer-led supplemental instruction are the strategies employed to increase retention of STEM freshman. A mentoring program, a "Vikings Explorer's Academy" for sophomores, undergraduate research opportunities, and preparation workshops for graduate school are the strategies employed to address persistence and graduation rates in STEM.

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Gap junctions allow intercellular communication between adjacent cells and are formed from hexameric structures called connexons. Each connexon comprises a hemichannel and docks with a connexon on an apposing cell across a narrow gap to form a junction. Ions and metabolites are exchanged between cells across these junctions. Of the 21 human connexin (Cx) genes discovered, four are considered principal isoforms in cardiac tissue: Cx37, Cx40, Cx43 and Cx45. Gap junctions in cardiac tissue act as the electrical conduits of the heart, helping to maintain a uniform action potential for a proper heartbeat. Disruption of these junctions can lead to fatal arrhythmias, especially in post-myocardial infarction patients. The molecular basis for channel closure and regulation is not well understood. These gap junctions are also potential antiarrhythmic drug targets, but pharmaceutical developments are hindered due to the lack of high resolution three dimensional models. I am proposing an integrated approach to study cardiac connexin structures which employs recombinant protein expression, electron cryo-microscopy (cryoEM), EPR spectroscopy, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to explore the structure and conformational dynamics of cardiac gap junction membrane channels, focusing on the most abundant heart isoforms, Cx40 and Cx43. Cx40 is enriched in the His-Purkinje fibers whereas Cx43 is found throughout the myocardium. Although they possess a high degree of sequence similarity, Cx40 and Cx43 have markedly different expression and physiological profiles. High resolution structures would assist in explaining the immense functional data that has accumulated over the last four decades and can pave the way for rationalized drug design. The goal of this proposal is to comparatively characterize Cx40 and Cx43 at the atomic level using cryoEM, EPR, and MD in order to establish the molecular determinants of their functional differences and to derive a detailed molecular description of channel closure and regulation.

Implementation projects provide support to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to design, implement, and assess strategies that can lead to comprehensive institutional efforts to increase the number of students receiving undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and enhance the quality of their preparation by strengthening STEM education and research. The project at Elizabeth City State University seeks to further strengthen programs for building STEM student success. The goal of the project is to design pathways to increase the numbers of students pursuing STEM majors and the quality of their preparation into graduate programs and careers.

Activities that are part of this project are: a pre-college summer program that includes incoming freshmen, K-12 teachers and parents; a sophomore bridge program to address the critical transition from the freshman to the sophomore year; a STEM innovation lab to develop creative approaches to teaching STEM undergraduate courses; and hierarchical mentoring for undergraduate students. The activities and strategies are evidence-based and what is learned through this project can serve as a model for other small liberal arts institutions.