Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

This grant application is to acquire instrumentation that will be shared by nine highly active research laboratories in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Western Ontario. The equipment allows for the ability to quantitatively read fluorescence and luminescence from biological samples and is able to measure many samples in parallel within a single experiment. These researchers will use this technology to study a number of important areas including mechanisms by how bacteria can colonize and cause human disease, new ways to inhibit the HIV virus, and developmental aspects of the immune system. The research produced from these investigators is expected to result in the advanced training of numerous Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP), contributed to many research projects, leading to new and alternative treatment methods for both infectious and immune mediated diseases.