A new microscope recently received by the Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center will help the group of clinicians, researchers and students expand their research capabilities and make further advances in treating brain cancer, as the microscope lets them look at cancer cells in “very different ways than we could before,” said Robert Winn, co-founder/CEO of Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center.

The new microscope, which is an inverted phase-contrast microscope with fluorescent imaging capabilities, will allow researchers to better visualize cancer cells while serving as a valuable teaching tool for the center, Winn and UMBTC Director Amber LaCrosse said.

The purchase of the new microscope was funded by nearly $70,000 from the Superior Health Foundation, Winn and LaCrosse said, noting the center was thankful to obtain the brand-new microscope a few weeks ago and begin using it to further their research.

“We’re really grateful to the Superior Health Foundation for their financial support,” Winn said. “This added to our capabilities, we’re very appreciative of them and their support of the brain tumor center.”

Joe Duffy, a Northern Michigan University graduate student who performs research in the Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center’s lab on NMU’s campus, views fluorescently-labeled cancer cells on a monitor display connected to a new microscope the lab recently received. The new microscope, which will help advance the group’s research while further educating students, was funded by the Superior Health Foundation. (Journal photos by Cecilia Brown)

Foundation officials were glad to provide the funding for the microscope, as it will allow “the Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center, the staff and the graduate students to be able to do cutting-edge testing to help find a cure for brain cancer,” said Superior Health Foundation Executive Director Jim LaJoie.

“We’ve been actively supportive of the Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center and the work that they do and this is just wonderful,” LaJoie said. “It’s wonderful to be able to invest in technology that’s going to take them to another level. And it’s going to benefit patients and families all across the Upper Peninsula because this is unique, this is really unique what the brain tumor center does. And we’re just elated to be able to provide this kind of funding and help them with their research.”

The new microscope is a powerful tool in the group’s fight against brain cancer, Winn and LaCrosse said, as it allows them to get a better idea of where — and if — certain cancer cell markers are expressed within a given population of cells.

“We get a much better idea of where it is on the cell and the abundance of that marker on the cell, we’re pretty happy to be able to have that capability,” Winn said.

It will also give the center a better ability to take photos of the cancer cells and the markers that they study — which is important for sharing the lab’s research with the world and allowing cancer researchers to learn from their findings.

“We can now record or photograph those samples in a much better way than we could in the past, so that we can share them with the scientific community in a more robust way,” Winn said. “I think that will be great not only for our students; but for the field in general.”

Beyond its uses in research, the new microscope is a particularly valuable teaching tool, LaCrosse and Winn said, as it has a monitor display, rather than the typical binocular-style viewing apparatus most microscopes have.

“It’s very different from a traditional microscope,” Winn said. “There’s no eyepieces, the optics are high-quality optics, everything shows up on the screen. It’ll be much better for teaching students.”

This allows students and researchers to be sure that they are looking at the same thing — this can be difficult to do on a typical, binocular vision-style microscope that requires manual focusing, as there are many individual differences in vision.

“When we’re trying to trade off looking through binocular vision and the different focuses, I may not be able to point out the exact details that I want, so this will speed that up and just make their training better,” LaCrosse said. “And that’s the biggest part about the Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center, is teaching students. We certainly want to do good research, but if we can teach them the hardest, best research, that’s the goal.”

The Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center, which was founded in 2005 as a collaboration between Northern Michigan University and UP Health System-Marquette, aims to advance brain tumor treatment, research, education and advocacy.

For more information, visit www.nmu.edu/umbtc/. Each year, the center holds the Hope Starts Here Challenge to raise funds for its mission. This year’s Hope Starts Here Challenge will be held May 11 in Marquette. To learn more or sign up for the challenge, visit https://www.nmu.edu/umbtc/about-event.