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AU Professors to Establish Research Center

Imagine a place where any scientist in Alabama can find the technical resources needed to support his or her research in the field of cellular and molecular biosciences; a place where a community of researchers, all with their own projects, are united by a common theme and where innovative interdisciplinary research and education are fostered through these resources.

This is precisely the goal of the Center for Environmental and Cellular Signal Transduction (CECST).  AU professors, Frank Bartol of the Cellular and Molecular Biosciences “Peak of Excellence” Program and Raymond Henry of the Biological Sciences Department have been awarded a $1.5 million grant for three years through the National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF-EPSCoR) to establish this center. 

“The CECST is intended to be a resource for any scientist statewide who is interested in studying how organisms respond and adapt to environmental stress,” Henry said. 

As stated in the program overview, the goal of the program is to integrate biology, biochemistry, mathematics, biostatics and engineering elements in order to develop a more complete picture of how biomolecular networks contribute to organismal resilience in the face of natural or manmade extremes.  Ultimately, interactions among these disciplines will provide new opportunities for discovery-oriented research and overall research competitiveness.  The center will serve as a catalyst for technology development and will enhance the potential for the development of public-private partnerships in the biotechnology arena.

The CECST is multi-institutional, consisting of lead institution, Auburn University; Alabama A&M University; Tuskegee University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  “Researchers will work primarily from their home institutions, but will have access to resources, both human and technical at AU as necessary,” Bartol said.

The core laboratory facility will be housed at AU with satellite laboratories at A&M and Tuskegee, along with access to research facilities and expertise at other cooperating institutions, including the Extended Alabama Structural Biology Consortium. 

 “The grant is called an Infrastructure Improvement Award, and funds will go to improve technological capabilities at all of the participating institutions through the acquisition of new, state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation,” Henry said. “There is also a strong human resource development component to the grant, which will provide financial support for undergraduate and graduate students and summer support for high school science teachers and students.”

According to the Alabama EPSCoR website, the program supports projects which address the special needs of Alabama and contribute to the statewide development of scientific and engineering capabilities.  The state of Alabama received one of six national three-year Research Infrastructure Improvement awards worth $6 million in National Science Foundation funds and $3 million in non-federal matching funds, which includes the grant received by Bartol and Henry.