# Acquisition of a Surface Plasmon Resonance Instrument

> **NIH NIH S10** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · 2022 · $405,779

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The Boston University Department of Chemistry seeks NIH support to acquire a Cytiva Biacore
S200 Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) instrument to address a critical need for biophysical
characterization. The requested instrument will replace a >15-year-old model that recently
became irreparably inoperable. It will enable investigators on the CRC to advance their research
in life processes (chemistry, biology, biochemistry and biomedical engineering), will allow their
investigations to move into new areas, and will enrich student and postdoctoral training. The
requested instrument is critical to the research programs of 8 Major Users (Professors Allen,
Beeler, Galagan, Harris, Ngo, Schaus, Vegas, and Whitty) and 5 Minor Users (Professors, Brown,
Perlstein, Porco, Vajda, and Wong) spanning five academic departments. The requested
instrument will restore the ability of these investigators to use SPR in their research, enhancing
our biophysical characterization capability to meet the current and evolving research needs of the
faculty and students, and provide new capabilities to support small molecule ligand discovery.
The SPR instrument will thus play a pivotal role in BU’s expansion of its life science research.
The University’s commitment is demonstrated by its investment in the infrastructure for supporting
multi-user research instruments, and by its provision of salary for full time technical support staff.
In 2005, BU completed construction of the 5,500 sq.-ft. Chemical Instrumentation Center (CIC),
which was designed with specific space and support staff designated for bench-top optical
instrumentation. The CIC’s Director, Dr. Norman Lee, will manage the usage and finances of the
requested instrument, and the CIC Staff Dr. Stephen Whelan will operate and maintain the
instrument and provide user training. The CIC has a demonstrated management plan for the
instrument’s usage, financial supervision, and scientific oversight, including a nine-member
Advisory Committee with representatives from users and non-users. The graduate students and
postdoctoral fellows in the laboratories of the users will use this instrument extensively as part of
their research. This training of young scientists will facilitate their research objectives, while
providing them with additional technical skills for succeeding in their future professional careers.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10431408
- **Project number:** 1S10OD032356-01
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS)
- **Principal Investigator:** Adrian Whitty
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $405,779
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10431408

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10431408, Acquisition of a Surface Plasmon Resonance Instrument (1S10OD032356-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10431408. Licensed CC0.

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