Clarity in Collaboration

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) announced $17 million in funding for 17 CZI Imaging Scientists.  For the first time ever, one of the scientists awarded is a Carolina researcher, Michelle S. Itano ‘12 (Ph.D.).

Director of UNC Neuroscience Microscopy Core,  Itano has developed and applied advanced microscopy techniques, which help scientists at Carolina and the surrounding area make crucial discoveries about human health and disease.

“The lab I run has high-tech microscopes that use innovative fluorescence microscopy imaging — a special form of light imaging that gives us new ways of looking at biological processes. These images help us answer critical and previously intractable questions in biomedical science by allowing us to see biological processes happening in real time,”  said Itano.

Like Carolina, CZI has an emphasis on collaboration that peaked Itano’s interest.  

“We are duplicating a lot of efforts across the world, and don’t have as much interaction with each other as we should,” she said. “ If we can work together, we can make really broad changes.  Carolina’s emphasis on working together was critical to the success of that grant, and key to making an impact.”

The grant will support Itano’s work in full over the next five years to help increase the interactions between biologists and technology experts and to improve imaging tools for the scientific community at Carolina.

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