Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: Christopher Solis, PhD, MBA
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific?: Dr.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): csolis@fsu.edu
Position Title: Faculty
FSU College (if applicable): Health and Human Sciences
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: Health, Nutrition, and Food Sciences
Headshot (optional): https://cre.fsu.edu/system/files/webform/urop_project_proposal_portal/9596/Screenshot%202023-08-16%20at%209.18.56%20AM.png

Additional Research Mentor(s)
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Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above): {Empty}
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific?: {Empty}
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): {Empty}
Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable): {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific?: {Empty}
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): {Empty}

Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: Development of a support frame for sustaining cardiac muscle slices
Project Keywords: cardiac, 3D printing, CAD, 3Dprinting, Arduino
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: No
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 2
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s):
Biology/biological sciences, computer and information sciences, Exercise physiology, Information technology, Health services/allied health/health sciences, Mechanical engineering, Entrepreneurship/entrepreneurial studies, Mathematics, Statistics, Chemical engineering, Neuroscience, Biochemistry, Electrical and electronics engineering, Computer engineering, Clinical nutrition/nutritionist, Chemistry, Physics, Bioengineering and biomedical engineering, Computational science, Computational biology. 

Project Location:: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation?: FSU bus service
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s):: Partially Remote
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work?: 8
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work?: Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Overall Research Project Description:
The heart is able to grow in response to exercise. This healthy growth stems from the enlargement of every heart muscle cell in the heart. Heart muscle cells grow by assembling more and more cytoskeleton, known as sarcomere in muscle cells. In the lab, we can force this growth by making cells work harder and their natural response is to build more sarcomeres. One of the proteins that is a structural member of these sarcomeres is alpha-actinin, which acts as a cross-linker to anchor other structural proteins like actin. We recently published a paper demonstrating that we can use two drugs to control the assembly and disassembly of sarcomeres. To this day, we have tracked the growth by "freezing" the cardiac muscle cells and using special dyes to look at the sarcomeres. Nevertheless, our goal is to be able to track the growth and atrophy of sarcomeres in real time in cardiac muscle tissue. As such, the goal of this project will be to develop a 3D-printed frame that allows to to sustain myocardial slices to study the basic biology of the heart. The 3D-printed frames should hold the cardiac muscles without letting them get loose


Research Tasks:
The research tasks for this project include the following 
1) Select the appropriate CAD software (e.g. Fusion 360) to build the models.
2) Generate iterations of prototypes to test their suitability to hold myocardial sheets
3) Keep in consideration the spatial constraints imposed by the culture dishes
3) Optional: develop a electromechanical feedback system

Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
Knowledge of use of computer-aided design software (CAD)
Knowledge of basic 3D printing techniques 
Optional: knowledge  in design and assembly of Arduino micrcocontrollers


Mentoring Philosophy:
My mentoring philosophy is simple: you can reach the stars if you are in a supportive environment. My goal as a mentor is to provide the right conditions for my mentees to thrive. Examples of how I achieve this are by first and foremost, being available for my mentees to ask questions and get help at the earliest possible. Second, I provide the motivation and the key information for trainees to understand what is the main problem and why it must be solved. Third, I provide my trainees with the career advice they need to that from day one they can start getting feedback of where they can go with their careers. I am cognizant that motivation is an important driver of success because without the right catalyst the smallest challenge ahead will become daunting. 

Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):: My former lab page: https://chicago.medicine.uic.edu/russell-lab/ My lab page will come online soon. 
Please add any additional information here (if applicable)::
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vAoAMrwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao 


UROP Program Elements
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Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication: Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation: Yes
Materials Grant: Yes
UROP Poster Presentation: Yes

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Year: 2023
update url: https://cre.fsu.edu/urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?element_parents=elements/research_mentor_information/headshot_optional_&ajax_form=1&_wrapper_format=drupal_ajax&token=glZoKlgtwjJnH75vXwDQlLp0FvMNgxCs_VsKX1uZ9AU