The Institute for Applied Life Sciences offers industry-relevant training in the UMass Core Facilities over the summer. The Core Summer Internship program provides hand-on experiential research and technical training to UMass undergraduate students in state-of-the-art research facilities located on the Amherst campus.
Positions include 3D printing, human subjects' studies, NMR, wearable devices, and microscopy to name a few.
Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication (ADDFab) Core Facility Director Dave Follette and Intern Simon Brooks, Mechanical Engineering ‘25, were approached by a client about a rather interesting project — they were asked to develop a 29-inch model of a black sea bass.
FORGE, a nonprofit helping innovators achieve commercialization and impact, connected the Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication (ADDFab) core facility with Kimberly Cook, founder of Cooked Up Ideas, to create a device that would keep flags from becoming tangled. Together, Cook and ADDFab have created a star-shaped flag weight that will prevent flags from becoming twisted and torn in the wind.
IALS core staff members can contribute to your research programs by offering deep expertise and new ideas for experimental design, data collection, and analysis methods.
We are now accepting applications for the IALS Undergraduate Core Summer Internship (CSI) Program, Summer 2024! The CSI Program aims to provide hands-on experiential research & technical training with the UMass Core Facilities to UMass undergraduate students from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
Xheme, a specialty materials company based at the UMass Amherst Mount Ida Campus in Newton and affiliated with the UMass Innovation Institute (UMII), has developed a non-toxic programmable powder to make “smarter” plastics and coatings. Xheme Multifunctional Additives (XMAs), which can be customized based on application, boast a range of promising uses, from the next generation of blood storage bags to paint that is more resistant to fungus and fading.
Michael Busa, Director of Center for Human Health and Performance, and Embr Labs have created a machine-learning algorithm to predict a hot flash before a person perceives it.
A device for monitoring sweat and hydration based on a rigorous study from UMass Amherst is commercially available for the first time and ready to help protect “industrial athletes” from dehydration and its role in workplace accidents.
Congratulations to Charlene Coleman, former Core Facilities Accountant, as she begins a new adventure in retirement! Charlene was a beloved member of the IALS Administration Team and will be missed by all who had the pleasure of working with her.
'Recognizing Gender Diversity in Research,' Genny Beemyn, director of The Stonewall Center, UMass Amherst.Abstract: Binary and nonbinary trans people are often excluded from or misidentified in studies because of the language and methodologies used by researchers. This presentation will discuss why this is a major problem, not only for inclusionary purposes but also for scientific integrity, and suggest possible solutions.
IALS is inviting all Core Facilities Users to share their experience by participating in our brief survey.
An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by biologists at UMass Amherst recently published the results of a first-of-its-kind study investigating the links between gene expression and brain evolution across 18 primate species.
These RA positions will be under the supervision of the Core Facility directors, and will function similarly to an external internship position – the graduate student will essentially be on leave from their PIs lab for the duration of the summer period. There shall be no split appointments between the PIs lab and the Core Facility.
The Healey-Driscoll Administration held their first regional cabinet meeting at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Tuesday, Dec. 5 to discuss the administration’s priorities in Western Massachusetts.
Jiahui (Chris) Wu is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, and a member of the Center for Bioactive Delivery in IALS.
Lili He is department head in the Department of Food Science, director of Raman, IR and XRF Spectroscopy core facility and member of the Center for Personalized Health Monitoring.
According to the United States Census, the population of adults over age 65 has spiked in the past decade, reaching more than 55 million people—or over 1 in 6 people in the country—in 2020. The vast majority of older Americans would prefer to stay in their homes as they age, but for many, chronic illness, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias, make this out of reach without substantial support.
Michael Busa, director for the Center for Human Health and Performance and technology and consulting company, REOFTech, have been awarded $280,000 from Mass AITC to conduct a pilot study to develop a new at-home technology platform to help patients and their caretakers manage Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD).
Welcome to Lindsey Litwak, Seth Glass, Matthew Belden, and S. Sendhil Velan!
Since 2019, the IALS research centers and the Light Microscopy core facility has supported sending trainees to a week-long, intensive light microscopy training. This spring doctoral candidates, Priyanka Bhattacharyya (chemistry, You lab) and Sarah Mirza (veterinary and animal sciences, Mager lab) will attend Quantitative Fluorescence Microscopy 2025 held at the beautiful Mt. Desert Island Biological Laboratory.
Light Microscopy is featuring the Lattice Light Sheet Microscope from Zeiss. The LLSM technique allows 3D imaging at high volumetric speed with very gentle light, with close-to-zero phototoxicity and photobleaching. Pizza and beverages will be provided.
Please register if you plan to attend.
Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) allows scientists to view biological molecules at a level of detail that was once unimaginable by sending electrons through samples frozen in ice.
IALS has received more than $4.4 million from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) to acquire an 800 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer. This high-field atomic resolution instrument will aid researchers working to develop the next generation of drugs to treat high unmet-need diseases, including various types of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
Paul Katz, professor of biology and member of the Center for Bioactive Delivery (CBD), has been awarded a $3.1 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke to advance knowledge on human brain development by using an unusual subject: the brain of the sea slug.
Speakers: Michael Busa (CH2P), Kathryn Pap, Harvard Med School and Ipsit Vahia, McLean Hospital. Hosted by MassAITC this webinar session will focus on the topic of cognitive assessments and their importance for Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementia (AD/ADRD) research.
Genomics Resource Laboratory Director Ravi Ranjan recently presented at the 2024 Advances in Genome Biology and Technology General Meeting in Orlando, Florida. The presentation, “Streamlined for speed: NEBNext UltraExpress for DNA and RNA library prep,” helped address challenges pertaining to next generation sequencing (NGS) applications.
Sleep scientist Rebecca Spencer, funded with $6.7 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has launched two unprecedented studies that will track over time the brain development of infants and preschoolers to confirm the role of napping in early life and to identify the bioregulatory mechanisms involved.
The Sleep Monitoring Core Facility is seeking three summer interns to assist with the following:
What is tele-microscopy? It’s a service where you get great data without having to travel!
We can image in brightfield for traditional histology samples or fluorescence (epi or confocal) for up to 7 colors. We can image entire tissue sections or specific areas of interest to you and your team.
Meghan Lemay, Regional Manager of Alzheimer's Association of Western MA, joins us for a presentation on understanding Alzheimer's disease and dementia, including current treatments and risk factors. The program will also provide tips on how to better interact and communicate with individuals living with dementia. You will also learn about resources available to support families impacted by Alzheimer's disease or dementia.
Join the core summer interns in Light Microscopy for a special seminar on automating microscopes. Presented by Ramita Dhamrongsirivadh, Quang Minh, and Dhimitraq Nikolla.
Please join us on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 for the third annual UMass Amherst Core Facility Showcase in the Life Science Laboratories Conference Center from 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
On Tuesday, November 7, IALS hosted the third annual UMass Core Facilities Showcase!
The event began with two excellent student presentations. Neeraj Raghuraman, MIE, Srimathveeravalli group, presented on “Irreversible electroporation-assisted decellularization of intestinal tissues for use as a potential graft in bladder reconstruction therapy,” and Gabrielle Villafana, BMB, Rausch group, presented on “Determining the effect of LRP1 inhibitors on tau spread in vivo.” Great work to both students!
The 2023 Annual Meeting for the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF) took place in Boston, MA on May 7-10. The event, entitled Driving Collaborative Science, brought together scientific leaders to commemorate impacts of science on our lives and help make a collective difference in an increasingly global society.