New Mexico State University has announced a second faculty member who, this year, has received major project funding through the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. The CAREER award is a highly competitive award that supports junior faculty. Jessica Houston, College of Engineering assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, was awarded $500,000 to research flow cytometry, the study of the measurement of a cell, such as a skin or blood cell. The goal of Houston's work is to discover modern approaches for the detection of molecular excited-state kinetics and fluorescence decay using flow cytometry. Her project is slated to run until 2017.

RESEARCH FOCUS: 

Houston and her team conduct transiently measured fluorescence decay experiments through flow cytometry using time-dependent photonics. She also introduces applications for this technique that involve biomaterials and digital signal processing. Houston and her team study issues related to in vitro cellular systems and measure intrinsic fluorescence dynamics in order to provide new ways to characterize, separate, sort and analyze populations of cells. This project will answer such questions as: How can one best tailor a time-dependent analysis to better exploit or suppress autofluorescence, extrinsic fluorescence, or Raman signals; will rare events and new fluorescence decay phenomena be revealed with such high-throughput techniques?

Activities developed through this work will combine mentorship of underrepresented minorities, in-state cytometry collaborations, cytometry teaching workshops, cytometry user-friendly development and peer teaching opportunities. There will also be educational outreach to students in fifth grade.

Karen Mabry, assistant professor of biology, is NMSU’s other CAREER award recipient. Click here to read about Mabry’s award and research.

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Interview with Houston begins at 43 seconds.