Giles E. Duffield
The Notre Dame Integrated Imaging Facility (NDIIF) is pleased to announce two awards for best imaging publications for calendar year 2013.
The 2013 Best Biological Imaging Publication was awarded to Giles E. Duffield, associate professor of biological sciences. Duffield and his coworkers have pioneered the use of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to monitor the daily rhythms of small living animals. The researchers use 18-F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), a radiolabeled sugar that is a PET marker for tissue metabolism levels. The authors investigated the effect of ID2 gene ablation on FDG biodistribution in mice. The PET imaging results showed altered circadian feeding behavior, sex-specific enhancement of insulin sensitivity, and elevated glucose uptake in skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue. The findings indicate a role for ID2 as a regulator of glucose and lipid metabolism, and contribute to the understanding of the development of obesity and diabetes, particularly in shift work personnel. The study was published in PLoS One.
Imaging from Khachatur V. Manukyan
The 2013 Best Electron Microscopy Imaging Publication 2013 was awarded to Khachatur V. Manukyan, Ph.D., a post-doctoral research associate in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Manukyan and coworkers published a series of three related publications describing studies of the combustion synthesis of novel nanostructured materials with tailored properties. The mechanisms of structural transformations, which occur in the combustion wave, were studied at micro-, nano-, and atomic levels. A unique combination of combustion diagnostics and SEM, FESEM, SEM/FIB, TEM techniques revealed microstructure-reactivity relationships for a variety of rapid heterogeneous reactions. The discoveries open new avenues for the synthesis of ultra-low dimensional solids. The three studies were published in the Carbon, the Journal of Applied Physics, and the Journal of Materials Research.
"These outstanding publications illustrate the cutting edge science and engineering research that is enabled by the superb imaging equipment within the NDIIF," said Bradley Smith, director of NDIIF.
NDIIF is a state-of-the-art research core that consolidates the imaging capacity that is currently dispersed around campus and augments it with powerful new imaging modalities. The NDIIF creates an interactive network of research groups, who are connected by their interest in imaging technology, and allows them to cross-fertilize ideas and form interdisciplinary collaborations. NDIIF is affiliated with the College of Science, College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Science and Technology, Center for Nano Science and Technology, Genomics Core Facility, Magnetic Resonance Research Center, and Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Facility at the University of Notre Dame, as well as the Imaging and Flow Cytometry Facility at Indiana University School of Medicine – South Bend.