Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for our project included 20 NC State University faculty andtheir research lab personnel consisting of over 150+ undergraduate/graduate students, post-docs, research associates, and technicians; local universities including HBCU's; and government research programs. The LMD7 was fully operational beginning in January 2023 following signficiant delays due to the pandemic. During the current reporting periodPI Whitehill led two hands-on fulll dayworkshops which were attended by NC State summer interns, graduate students, and undergraduates from local HBCU's. These two workshops were led by Dr. Whitehill, a postdoc from the Whitehill lab, and a PhD student from Dr. Whitehill's program. Combined, the two workshops had ~20 participants who all learned about the potential of LMD applications and all had opportunities to prepare and process their own microscopy samples. A final workshop is planned for winter 2024 that will occur after the end of the award, but will be opened to all 20 NC State faculty and their research labs that supported the current proposal. Changes/Problems:No major changes/problems in our approach was encountered during this reporting period. Instead, we were able to execute on all of the milestone listed in our initial proposal, except for the final two-day workshop for NCSU faculty. Despite a delayed in the timing of the final workshop, we are happy with the overall progress. Dr. Mariusz Zareba, current director of the NCSU CMIF facility, is not in charge of maintenance and scheduling for instrument usage. Given that the initial timeline for the project was delayed nearly 10 months due to supply chain issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, we feel we have recovered from this inital setback, and will have completed all of our initial goals after our final two-day workshop which will be held in January 2024. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has opened up new opportunities for NC State faculty to establish new professional partnerships with faculty at local HBCU's. These new partnerships have led to novel collaborations which are currently in development. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results are still being analyzed and will not be finalized within the timeframe of the current project window. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?As mentioned above, a final two-day workshop will be held for NC State Unviersity faculty that supported the initial application. This workshop will be held at the NCSU Plant Sciences Building on Centennial Campus and hosted by Dr. Whitehill and the Whitehill lab. Participants will have the opportunity to interact with the LMD7 system and Dr. Whitehill and his team will provide several lectures highlighting the potential of the LMD7 and applications for the technology to other plant systems.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: As with all new technologies, adoption and integration into existing programs can take time. However, the Whitehill lab has extensively used the new LMD7 system for gene discovery and RNAseq experiments. Training is ongoing for this instrument with one-on-one training offered through the CMIF core facility in consultation with Dr. Whitehill's research team. To date, the LMD7 has facilitated experiments for model systems like Arabidopsis, the premier Christmas tree species in the US Fraser fir, and is being used to facilitate gene discovery experiments in corn and other cropping systems. Goal 2: Researchers are currently working to develop and adapt the LMD7 to their research programs with interest from NC State researchers that work on corn. This research is ongoing with results expected to be published at a future time. Goal 3: As mentioned previously, two workshops were held in the summer of 2023 for NC State students and HBCU undergraduate students interested in Natural Resources. A final 2-dayworkshop is planned for mid-January 2024 to be hosted at the Plant Sciences Building on the NC State University Centennial Campus which will be held for NC State faculty and lab affiliates.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:At this time, we are still waiting for Leica Biosystems to send the CM3050S Cryostat to the Cellular and Molecular Imaging Facility on the NC State University campus. The Laser Microdissection system was received and installed in April 2022. Unfortunately, due to supply chain disruptions, Leica is severly behind with completeing orders. We received a correspondance from Robin Swanson, Customer Servicer Representative for Leica Biosystems on July 26th, 2022. Robin indicated that, "Regrettably, there isn't anything we can do to speed up the delivery. This unit is on back order in TBD status. We have had customer's waiting since June of last year. We understand the frustration this delay is causing, but due to global supply chain shortages, we cannot manufacture these units quickly. As we receive them in, orders are shipping, but we only receive a few per month and orders are being filled in the order they were received. There are 46 units on back order and this order is 8thon the list."Therefore, until we receive the final piece of equipment from Leica, the system will not be operational and we are unable to implement our plans outlined in the grant installtion of the final piece of equipment. To date, account 573667 (NIFA-EGP) has been charged for the LMD system ($431,460.01), but the cryostat is still to be charged ($60,971.99). The account will be charged upon delivery. Changes/Problems:Until we receive the final piece of equipment from Leica (i.e. the CM3050 Cryostat), the system will not be operational and we will be unable to implement our plans outlined in the grant installtion of the final piece of equipment. We have tried to request that Leica expedite the delievery of the cryostat, but given the worldwide demand for these units, we are currently in line waiting for the next system to be produced and shipped to NC State. As of July 26th, 2022, we were 8th on the list to receive a cryostat out of 46 units that are on back order worldwise. These challenges are due to global supply chain disruptions as a result of the Covid19 pandemic. To date, account 573667 (NIFA-EGP) has been charged for the LMD system ($431,460.01), but the cryostat is still to be charged ($60,971.99). The account will be charged upon delivery. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Until we receive the final piece of equipment from Leica (i.e. the CM3050 Cryostat), the system will not be operational and we will be unable to implement our plans outlined in the grant installtion of the final piece of equipment. We have tried to request that Leica expedite the delievery of the cryostat, but given the worldwide demand for these units, we are currently in line waiting for the next system to be produced and shipped to NC State. As of July 26th, 2022, we were 8th on the list to receive a cryostat out of 46 units that are on back order worldwise. These challenges are due to global supply chain disruptions as a result of the Covid19 pandemic. To date, account 573667 (NIFA-EGP) has been charged for the LMD system ($431,460.01), but the cryostat is still to be charged ($60,971.99). The account will be charged upon delivery. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Until we receive the final piece of equipment from Leica (i.e. the CM3050 Cryostat), the system will not be operational and we will be unable to implement our plans outlined in the grant installtion of the final piece of equipment. We have tried to request that Leica expedite the delievery of the cryostat, but given the worldwide demand for these units, we are currently in line waiting for the next system to be produced and shipped to NC State. As of July 26th, 2022, we were 8th on the list to receive a cryostat out of 46 units that are on back order worldwise. These challenges are due to global supply chain disruptions as a result of the Covid19 pandemic. To date, account 573667 (NIFA-EGP) has been charged for the LMD system ($431,460.01), but the cryostat is still to be charged ($60,971.99). The account will be charged upon delivery. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We hope that theCM3050 Cryostat system will be delievered and installed before the end of the 2022 calendar year. Once recieved and installed, we will move forward with our original plan as outlined in our grant. Unfortunately, use of the LMD system requires a functional cryostat in order to properly prepare samples for analysis.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Until we receive the final piece of equipment from Leica (i.e. the CM3050 Cryostat), the system will not be operational and we will be unable to implement our plans outlined in the grant installtion of the final piece of equipment. We have tried to request that Leica expedite the delievery of the cryostat, but given the worldwide demand for these units, we are currently in line waiting for the next system to be produced and shipped to NC State. As of July 26th, 2022, we were 8th on the list to receive a cryostat out of 46 units that are on back order worldwise. These challenges are due to global supply chain disruptions as a result of the Covid19 pandemic. To date, account 573667 (NIFA-EGP) has been charged for the LMD system ($431,460.01), but the cryostat is still to be charged ($60,971.99). The account will be charged upon delivery.
Publications
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