2009 — 2012 |
Lasalde, Jose Diaz-Rios, Manuel E. Luciano, Carlos A. Baez-Pagan, Carlos A. (co-PI) [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Mri/Acquisition: Upgrading the Confocal Imaging Facility At the University of Puerto Rico to Enable Emission Fingerprinting @ University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras
This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
The Confocal Imaging Facility at University of Puerto Rico (CIF-UPR, www.cifupr.org) is located at the Río Piedras Campus (UPR-RP). CIF-UPR began operations on August 2001 sponsored by EPSCoR and NIH/NCRR grants and since then has strengthened research and research-related education at University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras and provided services to other institutions as well. The current facility provides services to more than 10 investigators, 9 postdoctoral fellows, 14 Ph.D. students and 17 undergraduate students. CIF-UPR will be upgraded with a Zeiss LSM 510 META confocal microscope. This upgrade will enable fluorescence emission fingerprinting, an innovative method for the recording, analysis and separation of emission signals in multi-fluorescence imaging. Indeed, this upgrade will have a major impact on a list of research projects and applications that range from basic studies of ion channels, receptor trafficking, regeneration in the sea cucumber to neurophysiology of mammalian sensory structures. In addition, it will also foster and strengthen collaborative and multidisciplinary collaborations among investigators in UPR-RP and other institutions inside and outside Puerto Rico. Moreover, this upgrade will impact the development of a large population of minority students that are currently supported by fellowships or assistantships provided by federally sponsored programs. Finally, CIF-UPR is committed to continue to support the development and introduction of novel imaging techniques and equipment in Puerto Rico and to promote transfer of knowledge, technology, and training in their use within the entire University of Puerto Rico scientific community and private minority institutions.
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0.929 |
2009 — 2015 |
Miller, Mark [⬀] Miller, Mark [⬀] Diaz-Rios, Manuel |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Urm: Mentoring Program in Neural Circuits and Behavior At the University of Puerto Rico @ University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus
An award has been made to the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus to establish an NSF Undergraduate Research and Mentoring (URM) program at the institution, in order to provide opportunities for undergraduate students to obtain research and mentoring experience in the field of neurobiology. Each year, for the first four years of the project, four students will be recruited to participate in the program, and the students will be provided NSF support for a period of two years. Over the five-year period of the grant, a total of sixteen students will participate in the program. Students from groups that are under-represented in neurobiology will be recruited following their second year of undergraduate study. Existing local networking mechanisms will be utilized to identify students from universities throughout Puerto Rico. Students will be engaged in ongoing faculty research programs on a year-round basis, with the objective of getting students to present and/or publish their work. The areas of research cover a broad range of topics, but are unified by the interdisciplinary goal of using the methods of neurobiology to increase our understanding of nervous system structure and function. Each program investigator has considerable mentoring experience, and the structure of faculty research programs enable undergraduate students to become rapidly involved in publication-quality research. The program mentoring strategy consists of personalized "hands-on" technical guidance that exposes students to state-of-the-art physiological, molecular and imaging approaches and equipment. Students are mentored in the scientific method, learning how to formulate hypotheses that are testable and appropriate to the questions they wish to answer. They are involved in all aspects of the research effort, including design of experiments, data collection, analysis, and communication of results. The importance of trust, cooperation, and teamwork within the "laboratory culture" is emphasized throughout the students' training. This individual mentoring experience is integrated within a highly interactive group setting that conveys and instills the excitement and enthusiasm of scientific exploration. Additional information is available at http://www.neuro.upr.edu/nsf-urm.html, or by contacting Dr. Mark Miller, at mark.miller@upr.edu.
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1 |
2010 — 2013 |
Miller, Mark (co-PI) [⬀] Miller, Mark (co-PI) [⬀] Sosa, Maria Blanco, Rosa (co-PI) [⬀] Diaz-Rios, Manuel Treistman, Steven |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Renovation of the Institute of Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico @ University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus
This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Founded as an Institute within the University of Puerto Rico in 1967 by the renowned neuroscientist José del Castillo, the Institute of Neurobiology (INB) was established with the goal of using simple organisms to understand neural structure and function. UPR is a major minority-serving institution, and the INB graduate student population is predominantly Hispanic. The focus on Poikliothermic model systems holds new significance in furthering the understanding of the impact of climate change (seawater temperature, salinity, etc.) on ecosystems. The institution is focusing on simple organisms, and common interests such as neural plasticity, temperature adaptation, and signaling molecules. Funds are provided to correct significant deficiencies including 1) an antiquated air conditioning system and 2) an obsolete network cyberinfrastructure. The rejuvenation of the INB will significantly improve ongoing and planned research opportunities and create new opportunities for collaborative research. The renovations will have immediate broader impacts including: 1) significant benefit to the minority student body served by the University of Puerto Rico; 2) an innovative approach to "ecological neurobiology" that will provide the first wave of researchers equipped to deal with the emerging and important issues of global climate change; 3) the establishment of a Neurobiology Education Center that will serve to educate teachers, children and the public about the study of neuroscience, and the special relevance of these studies to Puerto Rico's tropical ecosystem.
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1 |
2010 — 2014 |
Diaz-Rios, Manuel |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Rig:Identification of Pacemaker Neurons Controlling Locomotor Behavior @ University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus
The basic motor signals that direct limb movements during walking (locomotion) are generated by circuits of neurons called central pattern generators (CPGs) which are located within the spinal cord. Networks of interneurons control the activity of motor neurons which send signals that control muscles that produce flexion and extension movements in both sides of the body to generate the normal alternating gait seen during locomotion. The identity and contribution of defined interneuron populations to mammalian locomotor behaviors is poorly understood. It has been suggested that ipsilateral excitatory interneurons (IINs), those whose nerve fibers (axons) do not cross the spinal cord midline, are involved in the generation and maintenance of locomotion. This research project will use the neonatal mouse spinal cord preparation to identify IINs which are believed to initiate the locomotor pattern (termed pacemaker neurons). The timing and pattern of the firing properties of IINs will be electrophysiologically recorded and assessed during a drug-induced locomotor-like motor pattern using serotonin (5-HT) and glutamate (known to be essential for producing locomotion in mammals). Additionally, pacemaker-like properties in the IINs will be identified based on the effects of 5-HT and glutamate on the IINs intrinsic membrane properties. Finally, the effects of 5-HT and glutamate on the flow of calcium (essential for the release of neurotransmitters during behaviors such as locomotion) through voltage-activated calcium channels of the IINs will be assessed using fluorescent dyes sensitive to calcium and visualized using fast confocal microscopy. This study will provide a better understanding of important general principles for how neuronal populations and their membrane properties interact to shape motor behaviors such as locomotion. The research projects conducted will provide training opportunities to undergraduate and graduate-level students from under-represented minority groups by engaging and exposing them to state-of-the-art anatomical, physiological and biophysical research techniques using the mouse spinal cord as their research model.
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1 |
2013 — 2017 |
Diaz-Rios, Manuel |
P20Activity Code Description: To support planning for new programs, expansion or modification of existing resources, and feasibility studies to explore various approaches to the development of interdisciplinary programs that offer potential solutions to problems of special significance to the mission of the NIH. These exploratory studies may lead to specialized or comprehensive centers. |
The Role of Sensory Input to Mammalian Locomotion After the Loss of Supraspinal. @ University of Puerto Rico Med Sciences
PROJECT SUMMARY (See instructions): The basic motor patterns driving the rhythmic movements of our lower limbs during walking are generated by groups of neurons termed central pattern generators (CPGs) which are located within the spinal cord. The Iocomotor CPG is strongly influenced by timing information from ongoing afferent feedback, particularly those provided by hip flexion and limb loading, but also by more specialized 'resetting' responses (e.g. stumble-corrective). After a complete thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI), control of the hindlimb CPG is wholly dependent on remaining sensory afferent activity patterns, and under the right conditions, the sensorimotor transformations are so well encoded that treadmill locomotion in the adult rat is almost indistinguishable from a normal animal (Courtine et al. 2009). Limb afferent feedback alone was able not only to encode treadmill speed changes, but also produced movement synergies needed for sideways and backward stepping. The spinalized thoracolumbar neonatal rat spinal cord can be maintained in vitro with the hindlimbs attached. While the neonate is incapable of weight bearing locomotion, the isolated in vitro preparation is capable of generating complex hindlimb locomotor patterns with motor synergies that are surprisingly similar to those observed electromyographically and kinematically in the adult. If the afferent encoding properties are also similar at this age, there is an opportunity to study afferent control of locomotor spinal networks with the mechanistic strength on an in vitro preparation. We have developed a neonatal mouse locomotor preparation that features an optimized peripheral nerve dissection for selective stimulation of cutaneous and muscle afferents and are thus in an unprecedented position to characterize afferent actions on the CPG. Advances in our understanding of sensory input on movement control will allow us to define more precisely the requirements for the rehabilitation of patients with SCI. There is increasing evidence that in order to treat patients that have suffered an SCI more effectively, therapeutic strategies should include a combination sensory afferent stimulation techniques (e.g. epidural stimulation) and assisted physical therapy. Our findings will have direct implications for better designing these therapeutic strategies designed to take advantage of the plasticity of the spinal CPG network for locomotion.
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0.991 |
2014 — 2017 |
Miller, Mark [⬀] Miller, Mark [⬀] Diaz-Rios, Manuel |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Mri: Acquisition of a Shared Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope At the Institute of Neurobiology @ University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus
An award has been made to the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus (UPR MSC) to acquire a state-of-the-art Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (LSCM). This instrument overcomes obstacles that previously limited the detection and precise localization of fluorescent signals within nervous systems and other complex three-dimensional structures. The LSCM will be housed at the Institute of Neurobiology (IN), a freestanding unit of the UPR MSC. Eleven laboratories that comprise the IN utilize a variety of model systems, ranging from the neuromuscular junction of Drosophila to mammalian neurons in cell culture, to address some of the most challenging issues facing modern neuroscience. The LSCM will benefit the entire neuroscience community of Puerto Rico as well as investigators in other disciplines that require precise spatial localization of fluorescent markers within biological tissues.
In addition to enhancing research objectives, acquisition of cutting-edge imaging instrumentation will significantly impact the educational goals and capabilities of the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus. The proposed instrumentation will benefit students associated with two major NSF-supported initiatives: the Undergraduate Research Mentoring (URM) program in Neural Networks and Behavior which supports year-round investigation by undergraduate students in neuroscience labs throughout the island, and the Center for Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) in Environmental Neuroscience which partners neurobiologists with ecologists investigating the effects of anthropogenic factors on nervous system function. Finally, this instrumentation will promote collaborations between the UPR and leading international investigators, providing opportunities for students to receive a part of their training at major research institutions. Such experiences greatly expand their horizons and ultimately lead to broadened participation in the nation's STEM workforce.
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1 |
2018 — 2021 |
Diaz-Rios, Manuel E |
P20Activity Code Description: To support planning for new programs, expansion or modification of existing resources, and feasibility studies to explore various approaches to the development of interdisciplinary programs that offer potential solutions to problems of special significance to the mission of the NIH. These exploratory studies may lead to specialized or comprehensive centers. |
Neuroimaging and Electrophysiological Facility @ University of Puerto Rico Med Sciences
Project Summary/Abstract: NeuroImaging and Electrophysiology Facility (NIEF) The COBRE Neuroimaging and Electrophysiology Facility (NIEF) has developed into a state-of- the-art resource for the Center for Neuroplasticity investigators and the larger University of Puerto Rico (UPR) biomedical research community. It has also successfully continued to strengthen the research quality of all its users to facilitate a transition toward competitive federal funding. We propose to further expand these efforts by making the NIEF a self-sustainable imaging and electrophysiology instrumentation service facility with powerful data analysis software and new equipment and upgrades to existing NIEF equipment in order to meet the needs of our growing user-base. The first step (Specific Aim 1) will be to establish a web-based cloud data analysis computing network available to UPR scientists located at all major sites/campuses currently conducting neuroscience research. The NIEF will invest in new computers and software tools necessary to provide onsite and remote data analysis services to all of its users. The second step (Specific Aim 2) will be to continue upgrading and integrating imaging and electrophysiological applications within existing NIEF instrumentation. The NIEF will provide existing and new users the ability to combine electrophysiological recordings, optical modulation of action potentials and genetic methods through the addition of two additional electrophysiology set-ups equipped for performing optogenetics. This aim will be strengthen by a 20 million dollar investment by the UPR in the renovation of 2 floors at the Molecular Sciences Research Center (MSRC) for the establishment of a Neuroplasticity floor and a state-of-the-art animal facility. The third step (Specific Aim 3) in the continued evolution of the NIEF will be to further increase the equipment flexibility and detection sensitivity by purchasing a Super-Resolution/TIRF (total internal fluorescent microscopy) microscopy system and the upgrading of one of our current confocal systems with Super-Resolution/TIRF capabilities. Moreover, the addition of an Electroencephalography (EEG) suite will allow users to detect changes in brain activity and quantify how these changes relate to a wide range of neurocognitive phenomena. Also, the NIEF will continue and further strengthen the training of current and next-generation UPR scientists (Specific Aim 4) through our highly successful seminar and workshop series. Fulfillment of these four aims will enable the COBRE NIEF to be a completely self-sustained neuroimaging research facility and a role model for Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
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0.949 |