An endowment fund has been established to provide ongoing support for the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia’s Instrumentation Resource Facility thanks to the generosity of anonymous donors.
The Instrumentation Resource Facility (IRF) houses state-of-the-art biomedical research equipment that facilitates research techniques ranging from whole animal through single cell imaging to analysis at the molecular level. The tools housed in the IRF are used by faculty, staff and students from the School of Medicine, the university and institutions across the country. These tools help investigators perform research has have real-world impacts on the health of South Carolinians and beyond.
The Dr. Robert Price Instrumentation Resource Facility Endowment Fund is named after the facility’s longtime director. Robert Price, Ph.D., has served as IRF director since 1995. As a leading expert in confocal and electron microscopy, he has previously served as president of the Microscopy Society of America and is currently editor-in-chief of Microscopy and Microanalysis. He has also won numerous national awards, taught national and international workshops, and authored key microscopy papers and books.
“Dr. Price and his staff have helped mentor countless early career researchers, technicians and students. Under Dr. Price’s leadership, the Instrumentation Resource Facility has become a world-class facility, one which never fails to impress visitors from much larger institutions. It was our honor to establish an endowment that will hopefully help support the IRF for many years, and we hope others will join us in our support,” say the donors.
The new fund is to be used to support the needs of the IRF, and can be used to pay for instrumentation service contracts, purchase supplies, provide instrumentation training, or even fund pilot projects.
“I would like to thank our donors for creation of the IRF Endowment,” says Price. “These funds will help improve access to the equipment and services that fuel innovation and discovery. This is truly a game changer for researchers at the School of Medicine and across the university system.”
Individuals interested in supporting the IRF Endowment can contact Senior Director of Development Kim Riggi at Kim.Riggi@uscmed.sc.edu or 803-216-3314.