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

The Neuroendocrinology Assay Laboratory (NAL) at the University of Western Ontario is a unique research laboratory that specializes in the study, development, and application of analytical methods for quantifying hormones in human saliva. The NAL also offers a range of specialty serum-based assays to academic researchers in the neurosciences or allied disciplines who study wild-caught species including birds, mammals (e.g., voles, deer mice), or laboratory strains. The NAL holds a Major Resources Support grant from NSERC and provides assay services, on an as needed basis, to ~35 independent senior researchers and their HQP situated at universities or research institutes across Canada. The central mission of the NAL is to make available to basic scientists a range of non-routine analytical assays. In the present RTI application we seek funds to replace an aging but essential piece of laboratory instrumentation, namely the NAL's gamma counter which is heavily used for the performance of all of the Laboratory's current repertoire of isotopic assays. The need for replacement of this core equipment is urgent because, as of 2011, parts for the current instrument can no longer be acquired, even on the used-parts market. Currently the NAL supports the research endeavors of HQP at 15 Canadian and U.S. universities who use its specialized assays. Thus the future of a large number of individual research programs, most of them NSERC-funded, depends on the continued availability and operation of the NAL and its uniquely developed in-house assays. This is especially true for several long-term studies that are currently in progress, which rely on the NAL for their ongoing hormonal analysis. With the assistance of an RTI grant from NSERC, and the acquisition of a state-of-the-art gamma counter, the NAL will be able to offer continued high-quality support, allowing these research programs to come to successful fruition as planned.