Ophthalmic Therapeutics Engineering Core

PROJECT SUMMARY: OPHTHALMIC THERAPEUTICS ENGINEERING CORE The Ophthalmic Therapeutics Engineering Core will provide essential resources to facilitate translational vision science and technology research for development of new therapies for ocular diseases. The Core will support instrumentation and technical expertise in molecular engineering required to characterize molecular nano- assemblies designed to carry drugs coupled with expertise in device engineering for their targeted delivery or direct therapeutic applications. The availability of shared and centralized resources accelerates the development of new therapeutic approaches to efficiently and effectively deliver therapies precisely to specific sites in the eye, using innovative technologies. The integrated resources of the Core will play an essential role in bridging basic science, engineering, and translational vision research for developing novel ocular therapeutic approaches. The specific aims are to provide instrumentation and technical expertise for: 1) developing, characterizing and optimizing biological, chemical, or mechanical drug delivery systems; 2) assisting in development of custom devices and instruments that can improve or advance experimental procedures and research capabilities of investigators, particularly those involving delivery of therapeutics; 3) training investigators on the utility and operation of available instrumentation for the design and characterization of therapeutic drug delivery vehicles and devices; and 4) consultations on the experimental design, appropriateness of the specific techniques, and integration of engineering techniques to escalate the progress of vision research projects.