REU Site: Research Experiences for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Molecular Signaling - How Cells and Organisms Make Decisions

This REU Site award to the University of Tennessee, located in Knoxville, TN, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2024- 2026. The goals of the program are to provide research experiences for Deaf and hard of hearing (D/hh) students, to improve awareness of Deaf culture, and to provide training in deaf education practices to the scientific community. Hearing students who know American Sign Language (ASL) or are interested in learning more about the Deaf culture are encouraged to apply too. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students will be trained in the program. Students will acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to make informed career choices, be competitive in graduate research programs, and succeed in other STEM careers. They will be trained to develop and test hypotheses, gather and analyze the data, problem-solve and troubleshoot, review original literature, and convey their research findings to a scientific audience. Assessment of this program will be done through an online tool. Students should apply to the REU site using NSF ETAP (Education and Training Application: https://etap.nsf.gov). This site will provide research opportunities to students interested in genetics and cellular and molecular biology. A team of mentors from the Biochemistry & Cell and Molecular Biology department will guide students through projects that explore signal transduction mechanisms in a variety of organisms. Students in this program will study interactions between organisms and their environment, cell-to-cell communications, and mechanisms of signal transduction. Projects will be available using a variety of organisms, including bacteria, yeast, plants, mice, and human cells. In addition to learning basic molecular, biochemical, and cell biology methods such as cloning, genetic analysis, and microbial cultivation, students will have an opportunity to use state-of-the-art techniques, including single-molecule and live-cell fluorescence microscopy, intra-cranial injection of viral vectors, computational analysis of genomic datasets, and flow cytometry. A special workshop will discuss unique challenges and opportunities in STEM careers for D/hh individuals. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.