University of Michigan Vision Research Center

SUMMARY/ABSTRACT - OVERALL Continued support is sought for the University of Michigan Vision Research Center (UMVRC), previously called the Core Grant for Vision Research at the University of Michigan. Support for five Cores is requested: 1) a Data Integrity Core designed to provide increased rigor to human and animal studies, staffed by a statistician; 2) a Functional Assessment Core for the imaging of ocular structures and the evaluation of ocular function in living laboratory animals, staffed by an animal technician; 3) an Instrument and Electronics Service Core for designing and constructing mechanical instrumentation and associated electronic equipment and modifying or repairing existing instrumentation and electronics, staffed by an instrument maker and electronics engineer; 4) a Molecular Biology Core for providing access to instrumentation necessary for molecular biology and a facility for stem cell biology, staffed by laboratory technicians; and 5) a Morphology and Imaging Core for providing access to state-of-the-art equipment and expert personnel for ocular tissue processing and microscopy including light, wide-field and confocal fluorescence microscopy, and image analysis, staffed by a technician. The specific aims of the UMVRC at the University of Michigan are to enhance the research environment for vision scientists, facilitate collaborative studies of the visual system and its diseases, and expand vision research on this campus to bring the skills and perspectives of non-vision scientists to bear upon research on the visual system to achieve our goal of improving patient’s lives by curing, treating and preventing eye disease. The 29 participating investigators currently hold 10 active NEI R01 grants. The research interests of these investigators are diverse and include electrophysiology, neurobiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, molecular genetics, developmental biology, biostatistics, immunology, and clinical ophthalmology. The UMVRC is housed within the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center, a 300,000 sq. ft. building complex containing space dedicated to each of the Cores, plus state-of-the-art facilities for basic and clinical research. The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and the University of Michigan provide substantial additional resources that support the shared goal of fostering vision research.