1978 — 1979 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Microtubule-Associated Proteins |
0.915 |
1980 — 1981 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Fluorescence Detection by Image Intensification |
0.915 |
1981 — 1984 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Microtubule Directionality in the Mitotic Apparatus |
0.915 |
1983 — 1984 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Acquisition of a Scintillation Counter |
0.915 |
1985 |
Sloboda, Roger D. |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
Analysis of Fast Axonal Transport
The recent development of the AVEC methods of video-enhanced microscopy have made it possible to observe and record fast axonal transport of tubulovesicular elements in the axoplasm of large invertebrate neurons. In the giant axon of the squid, extruded axoplasm remains active for hours, making an ideal paradigm for many types of experiments. Thus it is now possible for the first time to design experiments aimed at a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms of fast axonal transport. We have selected six invertebrate nerve preparations, each having some special features advantageous to this study. The AVEC methods will be used to characterize fast axonal transport in these six preparations and using them test a number of hypotheses regarding the mechanisms of fast axonal transport. Experimental approaches will include motion analysis, pharmacological experiments, the use of cytoskeletal proteins (or derivatives therof), antibodies to cytoskeletal proteins and mechanoenzymes, and metabolic inhibitors to influence fast axonal transport. Efforts will be made to disrupt and fractionate axoplasm under conditions sufficiently mild that motility can be retained by a single fraction or restored to a mixture of two or more fractions. The ultimate goal is to understand the process of fast axonal transport.
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1 |
1985 — 1988 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Microtubule-Vesicle Interaction During Axoplasmic Transport |
0.915 |
1988 — 1990 |
Gross, Robert Sloboda, Roger Spiegel, Melvin Hansen, Eric (co-PI) [⬀] Mills, John |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Video-Microscopy Instrumentation
This proposal requests funds to obtain a state of the art light microscopy , video and digital image processing equipment. The equipment will be utilized in the research of five major users who have proposed projects investigating (1) particle transport in living cells, (2) liposome-cell fusion and Z-DNA, (3) the theoretical aspects of image formation in video microscopy, (4) ion transporting epithelia and (5) cell-cell contact during invertebrate gastrulation.
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0.915 |
1988 — 1992 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Vesicle-Microtubule Interaction and Fast Axonal Transport
The work focuses on the characterization of important motility related proteins associated with the surface of membrane bound vesicles and/or with the subunit lattice of microtubules. The subcellular distribution of these proteins, called kinesin and vesikin, will be determined at the light and electron microscopic levels, and the identity of proteins that associate specifically with vesikin or kinesin will be determined by affinity chromatography. Both of these approaches will utilize standard biochemical and immunological techniques. In a comparative approach, mitochondria will be analyzed to determine what characteristics of that organelle allow it to move bidirectionally in axons. This is important because up to now motility studies have focused on axoplasmic vesicles that move unidirectionally in axons. Finally, cDNA clones of kinesin and vesikin will be selected and studied. The significance of these experiments is that they will increase our understanding of the motor molecules involved in the important cell biological phenomena of intracellular particle motility in general and fast axonal transport in particular.
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0.915 |
1990 — 1992 |
Sloboda, Roger D. |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
Calcium, Protein Phosphorylation, and Cell Cycle Control
The purpose of the experiments outlined in this application is to provide, from a cell biology point of view, new information concerning the factors controlling the progression of cells through the cell cycle. The many forms of cancer have as one of their common characteristics uncontrolled division of the cancerous cells. Thus the cells divide repeatedly, in amounts and place where they are not required, causing much damage. The experiment proposed here will continue a biochemical and molecular characterization of one protein that is involved in microtubule stability during mitosis and thus may be a key regulator of cell division. Specifically, the experiments proposed are designed to define the characteristics of a recently identified protein (Mrel = 62 kD) that is the substrate for calcium dependent phosphorylation at the start of anaphase. In living cells, a pulse of calcium is released at the metaphase-anaphase transition which is thought to trigger continued transit through the cell cycle. To understand the nature of this trigger more completely, the 62 kD protein will be characterized. To do this, the abundance and distribution of the protein antibodies essential for these experiments have been purified and characteristics will be determined in vitro and in vivo. The former series of experiments will determine the ability of the protein to interact with microtubules in an in vitro assembly system, and test how the protein is involved in microtubule disassembly. For the in vivo experiments, the purified protein will be microinfected into living cells at various times during the cell cycle to test the affect of the protein on normal cell cycle progression. Finally, clones encoding the 62 kD protein will be isolated from a sea urchin expression library to begin molecular analysis of the protein to compare it to other known proteins involved in cell cycle control. The experiments proposed in this application are important because they will provide new and definitive information concerning the control of cell division by beginning an identification of the factors involved in the cascade of events that signal the start of anaphase of mitosis, and, ultimately, the completion of cell division.
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1 |
1994 — 1997 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Vesicle Microtubule Interaction and Fast Axonal Transport
9316540 Sloboda The experiments outlined in this proposal will extend previous studies on microtubule based intracellular particle transport. The work focuses on the characterization of two high molecular weight microtubule associated proteins which are involved in the transport of membrane bound vesicles in squid giant axon, termed MAP H1 and MAP H2. MAP H2 is the squid analog of cytoplasmic dynein. MAP H1 is a vesicle surface protein that can also bind to microtubules. MAP H1 binds ATP, and antibodies to MAP H1 block vesicle transport in extruded squid axoplasm. The MAP H1 polypeptide has a molecular weight greater than 400,000; approximately 25% of the polypeptide has thus far been cloned and its amino acid sequence thereby deduced. The experiments proposed in this renewal project are designed to expand our knowledge of MAP H1 and its role in microtubule based motility. The cloning and sequencing of the MAP H1 polypeptide will be completed. Functional domains of the molecule will be expressed in bacterial cells, purified, and their characteristics analyzed with respect to their ability to interact with microtubules, vesicle surface proteins, and other elements of the cytoskeleton of nerve cells. In transfection experiments with tissue culture cells, the effect of over expression of MAP H1 or of under expression (using antisense constructs) of MAP H1 will be assessed via motility assays and immunofluorescence microscopy. Finally, immunoprecipitation and specific radiolabelling experiments will be performed to identify those polypeptides of axoplasm and/or of the vesicle surface with which MAP H1 is capable of interacting. %%% The eukaryotic cell is a highly organized structure, and this high degree of spatial organization is critical to cellular function. In the special case of nerve cells, whose function is intercellular communication, this communication occurs in part by the release of secretory materials from the tip of the axon, a long slen der cellular process, in the vicinity of a neighboring cell. The secretory materials released from the axonal tip are manufactured in the main body of the nerve cell, at the other end of the axonal process. The mechanism whereby these materials are transported down the length of the axon is thus critical to proper nerve function. This mechanism, which involves the movement of membrane-enclosed vesicles containing the secretory materials along axonal microtubules, is not really unique to nerve tissue, since microtubule-mediated motility is a nearly ubiquitous mechanism for directed intracellular particle movements. However, the axon, particularly the squid giant axon, is an especially useful model for studying microtubule mediated transport. Recent advances in this field have led to the discovery of motor proteins which are involved in this transport. However, the motors alone are clearly not the whole story. The results of this project will lead to a more complete understanding of the mechanism of vesicle transport in neurons, and will provide important information about the components on the surfaces of the transportable vesicles that allow the vesicles to specifically interact with the microtubule based transport apparatus. This knowledge will not only be of significance to understanding the biology of the system, but is potentially important for downstream exploitation of microtubule-mediated transport phenomena in non-biological applications, such as advanced materials and nanofabrication. ***
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0.915 |
1998 — 2002 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Microtubule Associated Proteins in Mitosis
Sloboda 9727818 The goal of this project is to understand the role of a protein termed p62 in two key processes of cell division, mitosis and cytokinesis. Cell division is an essential feature of life: it is the process whereby all organisms reproduce themselves and whereby multicellular organisms develop from a single-celled zygote. Cytokinesis is the process in which the cell cleaves itself into two separate cells. Mitosis is the complex process immediately preceding cytokinesis, in which the chromosomes of the dividing cell are separated and equally apportioned into the regions destined to become the daughter cells. A cytoskeletal framework is erected by the cell in order to accomplish these tasks. For mitosis, the framework is called the mitotic spindle because of its appearance under the microscope, and it consists primarily of microtubules. For cytokinesis, in animal cells the framework consists of highly organized actin microfilaments directly under the plasma membrane in the cortex of the cell. Prior work from Dr. Sloboda's laboratory has implicated the p62 protein in both cytokinesis and in the anaphase A stage of mitosis (the stage in which the separated chromosomes move away from the middle of the dividing cells, toward the poles, or pointed ends, of the mitotic spindle apparatus). The protein is physically closely associated with the spindle, and mitosis can be inhibited at the start of anaphase by microinjection of antibodies specific for p62. An essential feature of anaphase A is the disassembly of microtubules, and a drug known to prevent microtubule disassembly, taxol, affects mitosis in a manner analogous to the anti-p62 antibodies. Thus, p62 appears to play some role in allowing or mediating the mitotically-regulated disassembly of microtubules. The protein is also concentrated in the cortex of dividing cells, and has been shown to undergo phosphorylation when the cortex is induced to contract. The cDNA for p62 from sea urchin eggs has been cloned and sequenced, and the protein has been expressed in bacteria. For the purposes of this project, additional reagents (purified p62 and additional antibodies) will be developed. Purified p62 will be used for in vitro studies of its effect on microtubule stability, binding to the mitotic apparatus, and cortical contraction. The information obtained from these studies will be combined with information from experiments in intact cells, using antibodies to localize and to inhibit the functions of p62. Site directed mutagenesis will be used to alter the phosphorylation sites in p62 to determine the role(s) of these sites in these processes. Also, p62 homologues will be sought in other systems that offer the opportunity of genetic manipulation. The general hypothesis underlying this project is that p62 plays a pivotal role in mitosis, particularly during anaphase A, not only by allowing microtubule disassembly to occur but also by inducing the activity of the cleavage furrow. Understanding the characteristics of p62 and the functional interactions of p62 with other components of the machinery of mitosis and cytokinesis will lead to a greater understanding of these critically important cellular processes.
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0.915 |
1999 — 2002 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Acquisition of a Confocal Imaging Spectrophotometer
Award Abstract - 9970048
Visualizing complex fluorescently labeled objects, quantifying spatial relationships among objects, and analyzing the resulting spatially explicit image data have become important and essential tools for cell, molecular, and developmental biologists. This award will support the purchase of a Leica Confocal Imaging Spectophotometer that will allow the Department of Biological Sciences at Dartmouth College to obtain more detailed three-dimensional information from fluorescent specimens. Faculty and students at Dartmouth will use this instrument in a variety of research projects, including studies on the cytoskeleton, patterns of gene expression in developing flower primordia, gonadogenesis, and the identification of genes controlling cell fate and cell division.
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0.915 |
2001 — 2004 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Acquisition of a Palm Laser Trap Microscope
A grant has been awarded to Dr Roger D. Sloboda at Dartmouth College to purchase a Microscope for laser based micromanipulation and collection of living or fixed cells and manipulation of subcellular particles. This instrument will provide new capabilities for the Department of Biological Sciences at Dartmouth, with respect to faculty and graduate student research and undergraduate instruction. The capabilities of this microscope are currently unavailable to this group of faculty anywhere else within a reasonable distance in New Hampshire or Vermont. The microscope uses laser-based technology under computer control to move, manipulate, and collect cells and subcelluar parts of cells for further analysis. The characteristics of design and ease of use indicate this microscope will bring these capabilities to the students and faculty at Dartmouth. The faculty that will make use of this instrument are members of the Molecular and Cellular Biology graduate program, and they cover in their research the biological spectrum from yeast to higher plants and animals. All of the ongoing research projects are amenable to approaches using modern, computer enhanced microscope image acquisition and analysis techniques. Thus, this instrumentation provides a unifying focus for the research efforts of the user group. Some specific examples of the projects at Dartmouth that will benefit from this instrumentation here are studies on: membrane bound vesicle trafficking during lipid homeostasis, formation and maintenance of the poles of the mitotic spindle, the cell component responsible for separating the chromosomes at cell division, the effect of endogenous and exogenous steroids on early embryological development, the axoplasmic transport of membrane bound vesicles in neurons, changes in cellular autofluorescence as an indicator of future cancerous growth of cells in culture, and the role of specific nuclear proteins in cell division. This brief list highlights just a few of the projects that will immediately benefit from the awarded equipment. High resolution light microscopy and enhanced visualization technologies have long been the focus of faculty in the Biological Sciences at Dartmouth, and this award is coincident with the historical development of this department over the past three decades. The acquisition of a microscope capable of laser ablation, laser based cell isolation, and laser trap manipulations of cells and subcellular particles will complement nicely the current instrumentation and greatly improve the research and training environment for the faculty and for the graduate and undergraduate students in this department. The laser microscope will enhance the research productivity of the faculty as well as the training environment for the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students at Dartmouth. Thus, the research enterprise in the Biological Sciences at Dartmouth will be significantly enhanced.
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0.915 |
2004 — 2008 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Analysis of Intraflagellar Transport
Intraflagellar transport (IFT) is essential for the assembly and maintenance of eukaryotic flagella and cilia and is a fundamental characteristic of almost all eukaryotic cells. IFT is characterized by the movement of large protein complexes from the basal body to the flagellar tip by the microtubule-based motor protein kinesin II and from the tip back to the basal body by cytoplasmic dynein 1b. The IFT particles are not membrane bound, and the mechanism by which these particles interact with motor proteins and cargo are unknown. In order to begin understanding these interactions, IFT will be reconstituted in vitro using purified motor proteins and cargo polypeptides. Related experiments will focus on the binding of motor proteins to cargo polypeptides and the assembly of these multi-component IFT complexes. Additional experiments using temperature-sensitive mutants for the retrograde motor involved in IFT will focus on IFT as a component of a signal transduction system that negatively controls expression of flagellar genes. The PI will integrate the research project with undergraduate courses in cell biology. Moreover, the project will provide research training for undergraduate and graduate students.
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0.915 |
2005 |
Sloboda, Roger D. |
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.) |
Polypeptides of the Flagellar Tip Complex
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Intraflagellar transport (IFT) is a process that is fundamental to the proper function of many cell types in the body, among them cells of the kidney where it is required for the assembly and maintenance of the primary cilia of the cells lining the nephron. Defects in the components of these primary cilia and defects in the machinery of IFT have been shown to cause polycystic kidney disease. The long term goals of this new project are to identify and characterize proteins of the flagellar tip complex and learn how they are involved in controlling particle movement during IFT. Why direct these studies to the flagellar tip? The microtubules (MTs) of the flagellar axoneme assemble and continuously turn over at the flagellar tip. The supply to and removal from the flagella of IFT components requires two motors: the MT-based motor protein kinesin-ll moves cargo from the base to the tip, and cytoplasmic dynein 1b moves cargo from the tip back to the base. Important activities relevant to the proper functioning of IFT occur at the flagellar tip, and these include MT assembly and disassembly, motor protein regulation, and cargo loading and unloading. Because an abrupt change in the direction of particle movement occurs only at the flagellar tip, the motor proteins must be regulated at the tip. Kinesin must be down regulated or turned off, and cytoplasmic dynein must be upregulated or turned on. The mechanisms used to control motor protein regulation and cargo unloading at the tip are unknown, but it is likely that a complex of proteins restricted to the flagellar tip, herein referred to as the flagellar tip complex (FTC), plays a definitive role in these processes. To test this hypothesis, three aims are proposed here: Having identified a polypeptide, CrEB1, that is localized at the flagellar tip. I will use rEB1 as a hook to fish out and identify other FTC proteins that are specific to the flagellar tip. The second aim will employ different approaches to identify structural and enzymatic components of the FTC that do not depend on an interaction with CrEBl. The third aim will characterize the FTC proteins identified via the first two aims and determine their function in IFT. Understanding more about the process of IFT is very important, as recent studies have shown that IFT defects cause polycystic kidney disease specifically, and defects in primary cilia are associated with a range of human disorders in addition to cystic diseases of the kidney, including retinal degeneration, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, etc.
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1 |
2006 |
Sloboda, Roger D. |
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.) |
Polpeptides of the Flagellar Tip Complex
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Intraflagellar transport (IFT) is a process that is fundamental to the proper function of many cell types in the body, among them cells of the kidney where it is required for the assembly and maintenance of the primary cilia of the cells lining the nephron. Defects in the components of these primary cilia and defects in the machinery of IFT have been shown to cause polycystic kidney disease. The long term goals of this new project are to identify and characterize proteins of the flagellar tip complex and learn how they are involved in controlling particle movement during IFT. Why direct these studies to the flagellar tip? The microtubules (MTs) of the flagellar axoneme assemble and continuously turn over at the flagellar tip. The supply to and removal from the flagella of IFT components requires two motors: the MT-based motor protein kinesin-ll moves cargo from the base to the tip, and cytoplasmic dynein 1b moves cargo from the tip back to the base. Important activities relevant to the proper functioning of IFT occur at the flagellar tip, and these include MT assembly and disassembly, motor protein regulation, and cargo loading and unloading. Because an abrupt change in the direction of particle movement occurs only at the flagellar tip, the motor proteins must be regulated at the tip. Kinesin must be down regulated or turned off, and cytoplasmic dynein must be upregulated or turned on. The mechanisms used to control motor protein regulation and cargo unloading at the tip are unknown, but it is likely that a complex of proteins restricted to the flagellar tip, herein referred to as the flagellar tip complex (FTC), plays a definitive role in these processes. To test this hypothesis, three aims are proposed here: Having identified a polypeptide, CrEB1, that is localized at the flagellar tip. I will use rEB1 as a hook to fish out and identify other FTC proteins that are specific to the flagellar tip. The second aim will employ different approaches to identify structural and enzymatic components of the FTC that do not depend on an interaction with CrEBl. The third aim will characterize the FTC proteins identified via the first two aims and determine their function in IFT. Understanding more about the process of IFT is very important, as recent studies have shown that IFT defects cause polycystic kidney disease specifically, and defects in primary cilia are associated with a range of human disorders in addition to cystic diseases of the kidney, including retinal degeneration, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, etc.
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1 |
2009 — 2013 |
Sloboda, Roger Pogue, Brian (co-PI) [⬀] Gulledge, Allan |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Mri: Acquisition of a Multi-Photon Imaging and Electrophysiology Rig
This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
The combined use of microscopy and high-resolution fluorescence imaging is a fundamental tool for exploration of the physical and biological world. This Major Research Instrumentation grant from the NSF provides the Dartmouth community with a state-of-the-art multi-photon microscopy facility that will drive three broad lines of scientific inquiry. The first research area is exploring fundamental properties of the mammalian central nervous system, including neural development and neuronal signaling, in vitro and in vivo. A second line of research is investigating fundamental aspects of cellular biology, including cellular signaling and intracellular trafficking of proteins. A third avenue of research will explore novel uses for multi-photon imaging for biological and non-biological applications. All of these research areas benefit from the increased quantum efficiency and reduced phototoxicity and photo-bleaching that are inherent in multi-photon imaging. The NSF-provided multi-photon imaging facility greatly enhances and expands the research capabilities of a broad range of laboratories at Dartmouth, and is fostering new collaborative research projects among a diverse group of users. New findings will be disseminated through journal publications, conference presentations, and local media. In addition to facilitating research, the multi-photon imaging facility is advancing the education and training of the next generation of scientific investigators. Training in advanced optical techniques is made available to more than 200 laboratories across the institution, including more than 250 graduate students. Access to this new instrumentation increases the research opportunities and experiences available to Dartmouth graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
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0.915 |
2010 — 2014 |
Gladfelter, Amy (co-PI) [⬀] Sloboda, Roger Bickel, Sharon [⬀] Schaller, George |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Mri: Acquisition of Nikon A1rsi Confocal Microscope With Hybrid Scanner, Spectral Unmixing and Flim/Fcs
This Major Research Instrumentation award to Dartmouth College funds the acquisition of a confocal microscope with a hybrid scanner, spectral unmixing and components that allow for Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM) and Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) measurements. This system will significantly advance basic science research and teaching infrastructure at Dartmouth and throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. The research enabled by the new system addresses fundamental questions in cell biology and developmental biology, and utilizes a diverse array of model systems (bacteria, fungi, algae, plants, worms, flies and mice). In all cases, the new confocal system will substantially improve and expand the imaging capabilities and allow Dartmouth investigators to continue to conduct leading-edge research and to train the next generation of life scientists. Each of the faculty using the new microscope is committed to teaching science at all levels and to preparing successful future scientists and science teachers. The new system makes state-of-the-art imaging technology more accessible to undergraduate students, graduate students and post-doctoral scholars, as well as students and teachers in our local secondary schools. Furthermore, Dartmouth faculty members have an extensive history of including undergraduate interns in their research programs and incorporating the latest scientific approaches and data into their courses. The results of these research and teaching efforts will be broadly disseminated through abstracts and peer reviewed publications, as well as by active participation of students and faculty at professional meetings.
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0.915 |
2010 — 2014 |
Sloboda, Roger |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Protein Methylation and Flagellar Stability
Intellectual Merit: Almost all living cells in the human body contain whip-like appendages called primary cilia. These structures serve as cellular antennas that sense the external environment, detect signals, and transmit this information to the cell nucleus, which then responds appropriately according to the signals it receives. This project uses the single celled green alga Chlamydomonas as the model system to study how cilia are assembled and function. The two flagella of Chlamydomonas are analogous in almost all respects to primary cilia in humans. Cells assemble and disassemble their cilia (and flagella) during each round of cell division. Cells that are unable to disassemble their cilia cannot divide properly, and cells that cannot construct cilia cannot sense the environment properly. This project is directed at understanding the factors that are important in controlling the process of ciliary disassembly that occurs prior to each cell division.
Broader Impact: This project will provide several educational opportunities for students at different levels: (a) Undergraduate students will become involved in original research, an activity that is consistent with data showing that undergraduate research experiences increase learning and foster deeper commitment by the participants. In addition to deriving strong growth and development benefits, students gain a much greater understanding of the career options open to them. (b) A graduate student will participate as part of his/her thesis research leading to the Ph. D. (c) Advanced high school biology students from Hartford (VT) High School will visit the lab and be exposed to these experiments and the microscopic techniques used to observe cells with cilia. Through collaboration with Dartmouth's Office of Outreach, this project will be described to the local communities through a series of informal events called "science cafes". To achieve broad dissemination of relevant findings from this project Dartmouth's Office of Public Affairs will communicate new findings and significant publications to the news media as appropriate.
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0.915 |
2015 — 2018 |
Sloboda, Roger Donahue, Christiane |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Collaborative Research: the Role of Instructor and Peer Feedback in Improving the Cognitive, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal Competencies of Student Writers in Stem Courses
The Promoting Research and Innovation in Methodologies for Evaluation (PRIME) program seeks to support research on evaluation with special emphasis on: (1) exploring innovative approaches for determining the impacts and usefulness of STEM education projects and programs; (2) building on and expanding the theoretical foundations for evaluating STEM education and workforce development initiatives, including translating and adapting approaches from other fields; and (3) growing the capacity and infrastructure of the evaluation field.
This project will have critical significance for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educators by increasing writing and collaboration skills in students, areas of importance to economics, science, and national security. This study focuses on teacher and peer interactions and writing quality and improvement in the context of undergraduate STEM courses. Specifically, the project will map the development of three competency domains (cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal) by researching the effects of teacher and peer response on writing improvement and knowledge adaptation in STEM courses. The project utilizes a web-based assessment tool called My Reviewers (MyR). The tool will be piloted by STEM faculty in college-level Introductory Biology or Chemistry on the campuses of University of South Florida (USF), North Carolina State University (NCSU), Dartmouth, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). Research domains include both academic performance and inter/intra-personal competencies. Project deliverables will provide new tools and procedures to assist in the assessment of students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes for project and program evaluation.
Approximately 10,000 students enrolled in STEM courses at USF, NCSU, Dartmouth, MIT, and UPenn will upload their course-based writing to My Reviewers, an assessment tool, and use the tool to conduct peer reviews and team projects. This information is supplemented by surveys of demographics and dispositions along with click patterns within the toolset. Researchers will subsequently analyze this wealth of data using predictive modeling of student writing ability and improvement, including text-based methods to identify useful features of comments, papers, peer reviews, student evaluations of other peers? reviews, and instructor and student meta-reflections. Outcome goals are to (1) demonstrate ways the assessment community can use real-time assessment tools to create valid measures of writing development; (2) provide quantitative evidence regarding the likely effects of particular commenting and scoring patterns on cohorts of students; (3) offer a domain map to help STEM educators better understand student success in the STEM curriculum; and (4) inform STEM faculty regarding the efficacy of peer review.
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0.915 |
2019 — 2021 |
Sloboda, Roger D. |
R25Activity Code Description: For support to develop and/or implement a program as it relates to a category in one or more of the areas of education, information, training, technical assistance, coordination, or evaluation. |
Dartmouth Rural Stem Educator Partnership
Project Summary The employment demands in STEM fields grew twice as fast as employment in non-STEM fields in the last decade, making it a matter of national importance to educate the next generation about science, engineering and the scientific process. The need to educate students about STEM is particularly pronounced in low-income, rural communities where: i) students may perceive that STEM learning has little relevance to their lives; ii) there are little, if any, STEM-related resources and infrastructure available at their schools or in their immediate areas; and iii) STEM teachers, usually one per school, often teach out of their area expertise, and lack a network from which they can learn and with which they can share experiences. Through the proposed project, middle school teachers in low-income, rural communities will partner with Dartmouth faculty and graduate students and professional science educators at the Montshire Museum of Science to develop sustainable STEM curricular units for their schools. These crosscutting units will include a series of hands-on, investigative, active learning, and standards-aligned lessons that may be used annually for the betterment of student learning. Once developed and tested in a classroom setting in our four pilot schools, the units will be made available to other partner schools in NH and VT and finally to any school wishing to adopt them. In addition, A STEM rural educator network, through which crosscutting units may be disseminated and teachers may share and support each other, will be created to enhance the teachers ability to network, seek advice, share information, etc.
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