{"id":114064,"date":"2020-10-01T08:34:57","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T12:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=114064"},"modified":"2020-10-01T10:23:49","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T14:23:49","slug":"optics-and-photonics-researcher-receives-1-7-million-nih-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/optics-and-photonics-researcher-receives-1-7-million-nih-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Researcher Receives $1.7 Million NIH Grant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kyu Young Han, an assistant professor in UCF\u2019s College of Optics and Photonics<\/a>, is the university\u2019s first faculty member to be awarded the National Institutes of Health\u2019s Maximizing Investigators\u2019 Research Award for early stage investigators.<\/p>\n

The five-year $1.7 million grant is intended to provide stable funding so recipients can pursue ambitious challenges, according to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which oversees the program.<\/p>\n

Han, who has a doctorate in chemistry, will use the grant to develop a novel bioengineering tool and imaging system to enable researchers to image multiple proteins in a single cell under a super-resolution microscope. The current technique is extremely slow, taking weeks to months to image fewer than 20 target proteins. Han expects to be able to accomplish this with nanoscale resolution in 24 hours.<\/p>\n

If successful, this new tool could be invaluable to researchers trying to understand key biomedical problems from diabetes to cancer because proteins are linked to so many important processes in the body. Specialized proteins play a variety of roles including biochemical reactions, the body\u2019s immune system, scaffolding structures and regulation of metabolisms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I study optics,\u201d Han says. \u201cMy background, how I got into this, is biophysics and biochemistry. I recognize the potential. It makes sense because we need to know how proteins interact with each other and the surrounding systems. We need to be able to observe those to understand all the connections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Han\u2019s work aligns to the goal of the award, which is part of NIH\u2019s Maximizing Investigator Research Awards program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my dream job,\u201d he says. \u201cI am excited to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n