$1 Million Grant Establishes New Imaging Lab
A new Stem Cell Functional Imaging Core will be established in the SEAS Department of Biomedical Engineering as part of a $1 million grant awarded by New York State’s Stem Cell Board. Under the direction of Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, professor of biomedical engineering, 26 investigators from 6 Columbia University Morningside departments will benefit from research facilities in a new functional imaging laboratory in Biomedical Engineering and enhanced facilities in the Department of Biological Sciences’s Comparative Proteomics Center.
“This grant by New York State, the result of a collective effort of a strong team of investigators, is enabling us to pursue significant new areas of research toward Columbia Morningside’s strategic vision to help accelerate stem-cell research at Columbia and in New York State,” said Professor Vunjak-Novakovic. “Our plans are centered on the premise that enhanced interdisciplinary interaction will be essential to developing regenerative medicine technologies based on fundamental understanding of stem-cell biology. We already have more than two dozen research projects that will directly benefit from this new instrumentation.”
The grant will be used exclusively to purchase equipment, including a two-photon/confocal microscopy system, an in vivo imaging system, microplate reader and automated histology facility, to create a state-of-the-art functional imaging laboratory within the Department of Biomedical Engineering. At the same time, Comparative Proteomics Center will be expanded with the addition of a new high-resolution mass spectrometer.
“Our goal is to move stem cell research from the 'flat biology' of Petri dishes to controllable 3-dimensional models, and to study in real time and with high fidelity the interacting factors mediating self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells,” Vunjak-Novakovic said. “I expect that, with these additional resources, we will have the capacity to develop entirely new research paradigms, new imaging strategies, and new approaches to engineer human tissues that simply do not exist for stem cell research at this time”.
“SEAS is pleased to be one of the first beneficiaries of New York’s new $600 million multi-year stem cell research program,” said Gerald A. Navratil, Interim Dean of The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. “This grant will significantly boost the resources of Columbia’s stem cell research program and accelerate its progress, leading to new medical technologies that will benefit all.” Dean Navratil has committed SEAS to provide $250,000 in additional funding for the Imaging Core, to cover costs of laboratory renovation, materials and supplies needed to house the new research equipment.
