This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. The Histology Core has the mission to serve the investigators of the COBRE Program with their needs in specialized morphological and histological analysis of neurosensory development and relevant mousephenotypes. A Core Facility for histology offers several advantages to the COBRE investigators and the COBRE Program: 1) Enrichment of Resources: The establishment of the Core Facility with expert personnel will provide the individual investigators with a multitude of services, equipment resources and technical expertise that is not readily available within their individual laboratories. This will significantly broaden the depth of the individual research projects and support the development of state-of-the-art and technologically comprehensive research programs within the individual junior investigators'laboratories. 2) Efficiency of Personnel and Cost Management: The concentration of such resources within the Core allows for better efficiency and standardization in the usage of typically costly reagents, such as for example, specialized antibodies. Furthermore, the involvement of the highly trained and experienced Director of Phenotyping Services at UNMC, Ms. M. Anita Jennings, will reduce the need for each PI to allocate their personnel to methodologies that require extensive training and time in order to be proficiently carried out. In addition, the use of common reagents will better allow investigators from the different laboratories to compare and interpret results. 3) Quality Assurance, Mentoring and Information Flow: Scientifically, the Core will enable a standardization of procedures, of flow of information, and of frameworks for interpretation that will greatly enhance the infrastructure for success of individual projects through common quality assurance, data generation and interpretation standards. In this way, investigators benefit from the combined expertise generated through all of the projects. Most importantly, information flow will be improved through the use of a common Website for access to the Histology Core that integrates the efforts of individual investigators along common themes. 4) Enhancement of Infrastructure: The long-term objective of the COBRE, namely, to establish a critical mass of investigators on one area through the Center for Neurosensory Development in Nebraska, will also be served by the Core Facility. The availability of a specialized Histology Core Facility will increase the competitiveness of COBRE investigators for extramural funding, serve in retention of funded investigators, and attract and recruit new investigators into the Center for Neurosensory Development.
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