Acquisition of a Surface Plasmon Resonance Instrument

Project Summary/Abstract The Boston University Department of Chemistry seeks NIH support to acquire a Cytiva Biacore S200 Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) instrument to address a critical need for biophysical characterization. The requested instrument will replace a >15-year-old model that recently became irreparably inoperable. It will enable investigators on the CRC to advance their research

in life processes (chemistry, biology, biochemistry and biomedical engineering), will allow their investigations to move into new areas, and will enrich student and postdoctoral training. The requested instrument is critical to the research programs of 8 Major Users (Professors Allen, Beeler, Galagan, Harris, Ngo, Schaus, Vegas, and Whitty) and 5 Minor Users (Professors, Brown,

Perlstein, Porco, Vajda, and Wong) spanning five academic departments. The requested instrument will restore the ability of these investigators to use SPR in their research, enhancing our biophysical characterization capability to meet the current and evolving research needs of the faculty and students, and provide new capabilities to support small molecule ligand discovery.

The SPR instrument will thus play a pivotal role in BU’s expansion of its life science research. The University’s commitment is demonstrated by its investment in the infrastructure for supporting multi-user research instruments, and by its provision of salary for full time technical support staff.

In 2005, BU completed construction of the 5,500 sq.-ft. Chemical Instrumentation Center (CIC), which was designed with specific space and support staff designated for bench-top optical instrumentation. The CIC’s Director, Dr. Norman Lee, will manage the usage and finances of the requested instrument, and the CIC Staff Dr. Stephen Whelan will operate and maintain the

instrument and provide user training. The CIC has a demonstrated management plan for the instrument’s usage, financial supervision, and scientific oversight, including a nine-member Advisory Committee with representatives from users and non-users. The graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the laboratories of the users will use this instrument extensively as part of

their research. This training of young scientists will facilitate their research objectives, while providing them with additional technical skills for succeeding in their future professional careers.