{"id":4661,"date":"2025-06-09T12:23:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T16:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/?p=4661"},"modified":"2025-07-03T12:45:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T16:45:15","slug":"unlocking-discovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/2025\/unlocking-discovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlocking Discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Four

During a class in the CWRU College of Arts and Sciences new biology lab facilities, Nikhil Vallikat, Niha Gajula, Maya Moorthy and Ananya Bandaru conducted an experiment to better understand complex physiological interactions. | Photo by Matt Shiffler<\/p><\/div>\n

Neil Reddy<\/b> stood at a gleaming bench topped with beakers and test tubes in one of the new laboratories for biology courses at Case Western Reserve University\u2019s <\/span>College of Arts and Sciences<\/span><\/a>. Sporting a white coat and steady hands, he took droplets of DNA\u2014extracted from a bacteria-infecting virus known as a bacteriophage\u2014and prepared to analyze their structure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome [bacteriophages] can actually kill certain drug-resistant bacteria,\u201d said Reddy, a rising third-year chemistry major. \u201cBy mapping their DNA, we can better understand how they work and hopefully contribute to efforts to fight infections that antibiotics can\u2019t handle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Such hands-on work is at the core of an introductory research class for undergraduates that Professor <\/span>Robert Ward<\/b><\/a>, PhD, teaches. It is a genuine foray into open-ended research, not an exercise with a predetermined outcome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

Professor Robert Ward teaching an introductory research course in which undergraduates engage in open-ended research. | Photo by Matt Shiffler<\/p><\/div>\n

During the course, students isolate and characterize their own unique bacteriophage from soil they collect around campus. They use an electron microscope to reveal the structure of each virus, isolate its genetic material and name their own phage. At the end of the course, they upload their findings to an international website of phage biology. Through the <\/span>Science Education Alliance<\/span><\/a> sponsored by the nonprofit Howard Hughes Medical Institute, students from more than 180 colleges and research universities have isolated more than 28,000 phages, 4,700 of which have had their genomes sequenced.<\/span><\/p>\n

This research is the type of immersive, inquiry-based learning the university\u2019s newly opened biology labs are designed to encourage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spanning 30,000 square feet on the ground floor of Case Western Reserve\u2019s Dental Research Building, the $16.4 million facility opened last fall, designed to teach students how to conduct advanced research and to cultivate a culture of creativity, collaboration and interdisciplinary teamwork. <\/span>The enlarged space also means that the introductory research class will soon be expanded to more biology majors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese labs show the collaborative side and bring us together. It\u2019s exciting and hands-on.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/strong> Tejul Dafria<\/b>, a rising fourth-year nutritional biochemistry major and a lab teaching assistant.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The space includes six new wet-lab classrooms and specialized areas such as a microscope room and an aquatic lab. A large computational dry lab allows students to use augmented-reality headsets to visualize complex biological processes, while an instrumentation laboratory contains sophisticated equipment for extracting and quantifying RNA and DNA from biological sources.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Professor

Michael Benard, chair of the Department of Biology, collaborated with colleagues and others to shape the design of the new lab facilities. With him is a sea turtle skuil donated to Western Reserve University in 1898, meaning that students have been learning from it for more than 125 years. | Photo by Matt Shiffler<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a real \u2018wow\u2019 factor when you walk in,\u201d said <\/span>Michael Benard<\/b><\/a>, PhD, who is chair of the Department of Biology and collaborated with colleagues and others to shape the design. \u201cWe worked closely with the architects to ensure the labs were both functional and forward-thinking \u2026 to create an outstanding biological education for the next 20 years.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sophisticated tools and resources for students<\/h2>\n

The airy, modern new space is critical in several ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

It provides far more space and specialized, top-notch facilities to meet the needs of the more than 1,200 students expected to use the laboratory space each semester, including the 372 who make biology the college\u2019s largest major. And the biology enrollment is only expected to grow, Benard said.<\/span><\/p>\n

It has resources available to students taking classes that Benard said are more typically reserved for faculty labs or research laboratories at many universities, such as a confocal microscope, which uses laser light to reveal high-level images, and qPCR machines, which amplify DNA samples for in-depth study.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And it makes possible new specialized research courses that depend on sophisticated equipment in areas including genetics, ecology and computational biology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Susan

Susan Burden-Gulley, a senior instructor of biology, said students are excited to be in the new lab space. \u201cThere\u2019s a sense of possibility in the atmosphere,\u201d she said. | Photo by Matt Shiffler<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHaving early research experiences is essential,\u201d said <\/span>Susan Burden-Gulley<\/b><\/a>, PhD (GRS \u201995, neurosciences), a senior instructor of biology. \u201cStudents here can get an authentic taste of research from their first year, helping them decide what they want to pursue next.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The facilities also provide spaces that didn\u2019t exist in the old facilities in Millis Hall, such as collaborative lobby areas with whiteboards and soft seating that encourages impromptu gatherings where students can study, discuss data, collaborate or simply take a break. And in a light-filled resource room, students can collaborate on projects or take time to better understand particular topics, with access to everything from skeletons of birds and mammals to full-color plastic anatomical models of eyes and joints\u2014learning tools once locked away, but now neatly arranged in spacious cabinets lining the room.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adjacent to the new biology labs is a new wet laboratory classroom\u00a0for neuroscience majors\u2014 the college\u2019s fastest-growing major and a joint program of the Department of Biology and the School of <\/span>Medicine\u2019s Department of Neurosciences.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Benard is effusive in his thanks to CWRU leadership\u2014particularly President <\/span>Eric W. Kaler<\/b><\/a> and Provost <\/span>Joy K. Ward<\/b><\/a>. \u201cThe message from the administration was: \u2018Tell us what you need, and we will get it for you.\u2019 And that\u2019s been pretty amazing,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

Earlier this year, Isabella Russo (CWR ’25) and Senior Instructor of Biology R.G. Oldfield, PhD, examined preserved fish specimens in the Anatomy and Physiology Resource Room in the Department of Biology’s new laboratory teaching facilities. | Photo by Matt Shiffler<\/p><\/div>\n

Preparing students for the future<\/h2>\n

Early hands-on access to sophisticated instruments allows students to transition from basic research to more advanced, problem-driven projects that mirror real-world settings. This philosophy provides the basis for the biology department\u2019s Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) initiative\u2014a project Robert Ward helped implement. It includes the course involving bacteriophages that Reddy took.<\/span><\/p>\n

CURE \u201cis not about [students] finding the \u2018right\u2019 answer,\u201d Ward said. \u201cIt\u2019s about developing the skills to think critically and approach a problem scientifically.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With the new labs, students also can move seamlessly from wet-lab experimentation\u2014such as isolating and replicating a specific gene\u2014to computational modeling, where they can simulate and predict how that gene might function in different environments. This integration not only streamlines the research process but also reflects the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the scientific world that many students will join.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can prepare students with technical skills and also cultivate their curiosity and confidence to tackle big questions\u2014the foundation for any research or clinical career,\u201d said Burden-Gulley, who has enjoyed seeing how excited students have been to learn in the new facilities. \u201cThere\u2019s a sense of possibility in the atmosphere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese labs are giving us a chance to use new equipment and that makes a difference in our experiments.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/strong> Nikhila Juluri<\/b>, a rising fourth-year pre-med neuroscience and computer science major.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The new biology labs<\/h2>\n

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