UC Berkeley Vision Science CORE

Abstract The vision science community at UC Berkeley has a long and distinguished history, having contributed seminal discoveries in the fields of visual system development, physiology, genetics, psychophysics, and pathology over the past 50 years. UC Berkeley vision scientists come from diverse academic disciplines, increasing our understanding of vision at many different levels. Our group consists of 15 Principal Investigators holding 18 NEI R01 grants, along with more than 20 other Vision Scientists, ranging in interests from molecular mechanisms of retinal physiology and pathology to human visual perception. We request continued support for our CORE grant to ensure further success in vision research through shared resources and services. We seek funding for three modules which will support current faculty and attract new faculty to investigate the visual system. The modules are: (1) Gene Delivery (Xiaohua Gong & John Flannery, co-directors), designed to provide molecular biology expertise and support in the use of viral vectors for delivering genes into tissues of the visual system and for creating transgenic animal models of ocular disease. (2) Optical Imaging (Maria Feller and Austin Roorda, co-directors), which will apply and develop advanced imaging methods for visualizing cells in both animal and human eyes – designing, building, and facilitating the use of customized microscopes in individual labs and the Microscopic Imaging Center, and (3) Bioinformatics (Karthik Shekhar and Karsten Gronert, co-directors), which will facilitate the acquisition, organization, and analysis of large data sets obtained from genomic, transcriptomic and other -ohmic studies on the visual system, as well as high-density functional imaging data obtained with fluorescent reporters expressed in the retina or brain. UC Berkeley has demonstrated its strong commitment by hiring 6 new faculty members studying vision, with 4 more hires planned for the next several years, enabled by a $50 million philanthropic gift to the newly named Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry. The UC Berkeley central administration, and the academic centers for Vision Science on campus (Departments of Molecular & Cell Biology, Optometry, and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute) have all demonstrated their continued dedication specifically to the Vision Science Core by committing cost-sharing resources equivalent to more than $250,000 over the next 5 years.