Dr. Mark Taylor, associate professor of physiology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, was recently appointed director of the BioImaging Core Facility.
"Basic research is fundamental to both our understanding of science and our ability to improve medical care for patients," said Dr. Samuel J. Strada, dean of the USA College of Medicine. "As director of the USA BioImaging Core Facility, Dr. Taylor will serve and support our institution's research mission." Funds to support the facility were provided by basic science departments in the College of Medicine, the dean’s office, and the office of the vice president for research.
Dr. Taylor will provide oversight for the day-to-day operation of the equipment housed in the core facility. He will also chair an advisory committee charged with formulating policies and procedures on operational matters, and serving in an advisory role to the dean’s office with respect to needs and costs assessments, developments in technology, and the tracking of trends in image-related research fields.
“I look forward to establishing the facility as a major component of our research mission at USA, as well as working in the development and expansion of cutting-edge imaging capability at our medical school,” Dr. Taylor said.
The facility, located on the third floor of the Medical Sciences Building at USA, is home to a new Nikon A-1 Spectral Confocal Microscope. The instrument is capable of capturing high-quality confocal images of cells and molecular events at high speed and enhanced sensitivity.
The instrument was obtained from the award of a NIH competitive instrumentation grant awarded to a team of collaborative investigators in the College of Medicine and the College of Engineering. Dr. Tom Rich, associate professor of pharmacology, was the principal investigator on the grant.
Dr. Rich received his bachelor’s degree and his master’s in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He received his doctorate degree in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Dr. Taylor has served on the USA faculty since 2003. Trained in vascular physiology and pharmacology, he has always had an interest in the complex signals in and among cells of the vascular wall that control and fine-tune blood pressure and blood flow.
Dr. Taylor received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Alabama and his doctorate degree in basic medical sciences from USA. Prior to joining the USA faculty, he completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Vermont.
For more information about the confocal microscope at the BioImaging Core Facility, visit http://medschoolwatercooler.blogspot.com/2010/08/bioimaging-core-facility-installs-nikon.html.
