The Image Analysis Laboratory (IAL) at the National Cancer Institute - Frederick focuses research on quantitative microscopy for understanding carcinogenesis in solid tumors by analyzing the kinetics of molecular pathways in individual cells while cells remain in their tissue context. Research is done mostly by collaborations with multiple NCI principal investigators, with special emphasis on the cytoplasmic and nuclear roles of the protein STAT3. Technical developments also aim to provide an integrated resource for analysis of biological samples across multiple scales from molecular to the animal level, thus providing a seamless, bidirectional transition between basic and translational research. IAL received an outstanding site visit review in the early summer. IAL is administratively divided into two parts: confocal microscopy (CM) and electron microscopy (EM); therefore, each part is reported separately.
