Molecular & Cellular Analysis Core

UAB Center Core for Vision Science - Molecular & Cellular Analysis Core Project/Summary Abstract The Molecular & Cellular Analysis Core was approved as a molecular biology/histology core and has been an active and critical core for many Core participants for more than 15 years. Core participants in the current cycle have demonstrated outstanding productivity publishing 178 papers (an 11% increase over the previous cycle). For the proposed funding cycle, of the 14 moderate or extensive use Core participants, 12 are NEI R01-funded (86%) and the other two are actively seeking new NEI R01-funding or have other NEI support. Three of the four limited use Core participants proposed have NEI R01-funding and the other one has funding from other vision support sources. The core has continued to evolve to meet user needs warranting several core enhancements. Major institutional support has allowed the purchase of new equipment or the upgrade of some of the key Core equipment to help meet user needs by providing the most up to date equipment. The focus for this cycle was to enhance the capabilities of microscopic analysis through major update of a wide-field microscope and addition of an advanced analysis software suite. The Core encompasses protein and nucleic acid analysis, histology, and now advanced microscopy imaging and analysis. Dr. Pittler, the Core Director is an expert in cell and molecular biology, and biochemistry focusing on animal models of retinal degeneration and will continue as the Core Director. Dr. Marina Gorbatyuk, an expert in AAV technology and the study of the unfolded protein response in animal models will continue as the Associate Director to assist with Core governance and metrics analysis. In addition to having advanced equipment for analysis, the Core has a highly educated, well-trained PhD scientist, Dr. Jose Luis Roig as the Laboratory Director. His broad knowledge and experience base and overall scientific skill is a major asset. The Core equipment is primarily housed in dedicated space in close proximity to most users and is accessible 24/7. Conflicts in usage scheduling is minimized through a comprehensive online scheduler for all major equipment. Outstanding institutional support has been critical in many ways: (1) to provide the facilities that house Core equipment and an office for the laboratory director, (2) to maintain the equipment, (3) and to obtain new equipment to increase core capability. Core usage is carefully monitored to ensure priority of use among Core participants as follows: NEI R01- funded participants have first priority for use (1), followed by participants with NIH new investigator status that are actively seeking an NEI R01 (2), then by participants that are collaborating as key personnel on an NEI R01 and actively seeking lead PI NEI R01 support (3), and lastly by participants that have recently in the last three years been NEI R01-funded and are actively seeking new NEI R01 support (4).