HPF-X: A fast, buffer-exchanging high-pressure freezing tool for capturing rapid cellular events
Official title: HPF-X: High-pressure freezing with buffer exchange
Funded at Harvard University · NIH-11528939 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A new tool called HPF-X will let scientists freeze cells at precise moments after stimulation, so we can see rapid molecular changes in neuroscience and related fields.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Harvard University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cambridge, United States) |
| Project start | September 15, 2022 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $207,542 |
| NIH project number | 3R01GM146791-05S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11528939 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Not applicable to patients directly; the grant develops a research tool that may enable future patient-related discoveries.
✕Less likely to help
Patients are not directly enrolled; the work is preclinical/tool development.
What this research studies
This grant funds the development of a high-pressure freezing device that can exchange buffers quickly before cryo-vitrification, enabling time-resolved snapshots of cellular events. By combining rapid freezing with buffer exchange, researchers hope to visualize nanoscale changes that occur shortly after a stimulus. The project aims to overcome limitations of live imaging and current cryo-techniques to capture dynamic processes in cells with high spatial and temporal precision. The work is conducted at Harvard University under the direction of Maxim Prigozhin, focusing on improving how we study rapid biological events.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this technology could help researchers obtain clearer, time-stamped images of cellular processes, potentially accelerating discoveries in neuroscience and related fields.
How similar studies have gone: Other time-resolved cryo-imaging approaches exist, but a buffer-exchange HPF device would be a novel capability advancing current methods.
Where this research is happening
-
Harvard University
Cambridge, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Prigozhin, Maxim — Harvard University
- Study coordinator: Prigozhin, Maxim
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.