Marcus Research & Innovation Center

Florida Atlantic University Laboratory Schools received a $2 million grant from The Marcus Foundation, established by Bernie Marcus, to launch the Marcus Research and Innovation Center at the A.D. Henderson University School and FAU High School campus in Boca Raton . This grant will enhance the pipeline of students at Henderson and FAU High as they strive to become talented researchers and innovators who can address the country’s most pressing challenges, while becoming part of a highly skilled workforce to meet the needs of the nation. It also will help to re-engineer education to train future school leaders and educators.

Boasting more than 12,000 square feet of STEM and research space to serve as a training center and incubator for current A.D. Henderson and FAU High students as they prepare to become researchers and innovators of tomorrow. The labs within the center will focus on bioimaging, neuroscience, ocean science and conservation, along with a health care pipeline for teaching, high-performance computing, and rapid prototyping methods. Each of the labs will be equipped with top-tier research instruments not typically found in K-12 settings.

The center will also host visiting scholars and researchers, as well as advance the partnership and research already underway at the Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Regional Hospital and Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine.

In addition, the Marcus Research and Innovation Center also will provide spaces to support the FAU Laboratory Schools’ Stiles-Nicholson STEM Teacher Academy (SNSTA) and The Cane Institute for Advanced Technologies (TCI). The SNSTA bridges high-caliber research settings with middle and high school instructors by developing experiential professional learning opportunities and instruction to inspire innovation and create lasting educational benefits for students nationwide. TCI is a premier, K-12 STEM continuum, and serves as the lab schools’ epicenter for STEM education and technology transfer.

Berlin Family Bioimaging Lab

Bioimaging is the focus of the existing Owl’s Imaging Lab on the Boca Raton campus. This lab allows students and researchers to magnify or see the insides of specimens for observation/data collection purposes and to produce publication-quality images. The current equipment will be relocated from building 26F-108 to the new space. Additional equipment to expand capabilities is planned, including a floor-standing micro-CT unit and grossing station for large-scale dissections.

Wahoo Bay Ocean Sciences & Conservation Lab

This lab will help us address issues impacting our local waterways, including plastics pollution (and microplastics in particular) and heavy metals accumulation in marine food webs through the use of analytical chemistry equipment.

Neuroscience Lab

This lab will allow for live recording of neurons from model species with systems and cells similar to our own. This enables the exploration of how neuron function changes with disease, stress, and treatments.

Simulation Operating Room Lab

This OR-inspired lab will allow students to experience and interact with clinical technology while performing dissections and other experiments.

High-Performance Computing

This lab capability currently exists on our Jupiter campus for the FAUHS Jupiter students. It is being expanded on the Boca Raton campus. This lab will support training (e.g. python coding bootcamps, data visualization workshops) as well as work on data-intensive analyses (e.g. from micro-CT scanner)