S01 E06 - Dr. Heidi Smith: Why the future of biofilm research is microscopic

Welcome to Biofilm First.
Today, we're talking with Dr. Heidi Smith, who runs one of the most powerful
microscopy facilities in the Pacific Northwest.
Heidi took on the task of managing the bioimaging facility at the Center for Biofilm Engineering in
2018. And one of her first orders of business was to undertake an ambitious plan to upgrade the
microscopy hardware at the CBE's bioimaging facility.
She landed more than 1.5 million dollars in grants, which enabled the purchase of
research-expanding equipment that can peer deeper into thick biofilms than ever before.
Leica, the manufacturer, is expected to install the microscopes just as soon as it has finished the
customizations to meet the specs of Dr. Smith and her colleagues'
projects, customations that by some standards will exceed the l