# Acquisition of an MD3-UP microdiffractometer for macromolecular crystallography

> **NIH NIH S10** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $600,000

## Abstract

A group of researchers requests funds to purchase a MD3-UP state-of-the-art
microdiffractometer for synchrotron-based macromolecular crystallography. All the
researchers are members of the user community of the Life Sciences Collaborative
Access Team (LS-CAT) at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a third generation
synchrotron source that will soon be upgraded to the next generation source. The new
microdiffractometer will form part of LS-CAT and will expand its capabilities significantly.
The new MD3-UP is a versatile instrument that has a very small sphere of confusion,
allowing accurate centering of very small crystals or crystal regions. The MD3-UP will
help accomplish two major goals: a) ability to collect data from very small crystals, and
2) adoption of better data collection strategies optimized for challenging problems. The
proposed instrument is ideally suited for the research purposes of the user community
and will ensure that the user community at LS-CAT remains at the forefront of modern
approaches to the study of biological macromolecules. In addition, the new
microdiffractometer will be available to the larger structural biology community as LS-
CAT devotes 25% of the available time to outside users. The major and minor users
comprise several active and productive laboratories with well-supported research
programs that will benefit immediately from the proposed instrument.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9940318
- **Project number:** 1S10OD028566-01
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Alfonso Mondragon
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $600,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-08-26 → 2022-08-25

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9940318

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9940318, Acquisition of an MD3-UP microdiffractometer for macromolecular crystallography (1S10OD028566-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9940318. Licensed CC0.

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