The Chicago Biomedical Consortium

Catalyst Awards in 2008 have two scheduled rounds, one in Spring and one in the Fall. The Spring deadline passed on March 14, 2008. The submission deadline for the Fall round is 5:00 p.m., September 5, 2008. The 2008 Catalyst application process and program description are very similar to the guidelines for 2007. However, please check the "RFA: Catalyst" link for updated information, including minor changes in the required application format.

The first Spark was awarded to a team of collaborators from Northwestern and the University of Chicago: Thomas O'Halloran, Vinayak Dravid, and Jonathan Silverstein. Support from the two-year Spark Award will be used to fund two scientists who will aid CBC faculty members in using a high-resolution cryo-capable scanning transmission electron microscope (Cryo STEM), soon to be acquired. The microscope is capable of following changes in subcellular distributions of essential or toxic metal ions at the level of a few hundred atoms at a time and offers the unprecedented ability to produce quantitative maps of each relevant element within a biological sample. One CBC-funded scientist will support use of the instrument and train and advise CBC users in sample preparation and data acquisition. A second CBC-funded scientist will make the resulting multidimensional data usable by developing computational methods for 2-D and 3-D volumetric rendering representing the spatial variations in elemental concentrations.

We are happy to announce that the CBC/UIC Proteomics Mass Spec Facility is once again open for business. After a fire on the floor below the facility on Saturday, January 19th, the facility was closed for maintenance and repairs for several months. For more information or to schedule time on the instruments, please visit the facility website. You may also send an email to proteomics@uic.edu with any questions.