Support is requested for an NEI Core Center Grant in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) in Oklahoma City. Four Modules are proposed: Image Acquisition and Production, Instrumentation, Animal Resources, and Analytical Biochemistry. The first three are housed in the Dean A. McGee Eye Institute (DMEI) building in recently renovated facilities that includes 2,000 square feet for the core modules and 8,900 square feet for research laboratories. Analytical Biochemistry is housed nearby in 291 square feet of newly renovated space in the Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Department. These facilities will be utilized by 16 participating faculty from the ophthalmology and other departments, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and other laboratory personnel. These four core modules will increase productivity of the vision research activities t the OUHSC by providing stable, centralized services with core personnel. The modules will promote and enhance funded projects by providing resources that allow multi-disciplinary approaches, facilitate the initiation of pilot studies; promote collaborative research projects between investigators, especially clinical and basic vision scientists; aid in the recruitment of other vision researchers to the OUHSC; provide opportunities for researchers on campus to initiate vision research projects, in collaboration with vision Core Center investigations, and provide resources for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in vision research laboratories. The Provost, Dean of the College of Medicine, Dean of the Graduate College, President and CEO of the Dean McGee Eye Institute, and Chairman of the Board of the Dean McGee Eye Foundation have committed to support the vision Core Center by providing laboratory space; funds for renovation of laboratory space, stipends for graduate students; partial support for core modules, including new instruments and core personnel salaries; and partial support for faculty salaries. This broad-based institutional support will ensure that each Core Module is staffed and supplied to complete sere the needs of basic and clinical vision researchers at the OUHSC.
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