Columbia University has a large and vibrant vision research community supported by the National Eye Institute, with 22 qualifying R01 grants and 44 vision scientists in all. Vision research at Columbia ranges across a gamut of topics, from genetic studies of retinal and visual brain development in Drosophila and mice to studies of human retinal disease. Computational, neurophysiological, light microscopic, genetic, biochemical, and clinical techniques focus on a range of problems including the development of the eye and the visual brain, the mechanisms of ocular angiogenesis, the systems neuroscience of visual and oculomotor behavior, and the pathophysiology, genetics, and treatment of retinal diseases such as macular degeneration, myopia, and glaucoma. To support this vision research we are applying to renew our National Eye Institute grant 1P30 EY019007, which will continue to support a set of Core Facilities for Vision Research and enable services that could not be provided by individual research grants. The grant supports three research cores: i) an Instrumentation Fabrication and Design Core that designs and builds custom equipment; ii) a Computer Support Core that performs support and maintenance for the hundreds of computers, including an X-grid cluster and real-time laboratory computer-based interface used by the vision research community; and iii) a Histology and Imaging Core, which provides histological, in vivo, and fluorescent microscopy services. The grant not only supports currently funded investigators with NEI R01s, but also underwrites the work of vision scientists supported by other NEI funding mechanisms, other NIH institutes, and young investigators gathering data in order to submit their first NEI grants. This grant facilitates collaboration among members of the Columbia vision research community, and encourages scientists not currently engaged in vision research to use their expertise in problems related to vision.
Vision is a unique process, depending upon both the eye and the brain. This Core Facilities grant will support work on basic and clinical aspects of vision research, from understanding how the eye and the visual brain develop, to the brain mechanisms that underlie visual behavior, to the treatment of macular degeneration and the behavior of patients with ocular disease. By providing technical support, this core will enable its investigators to work effectively on problems related to the causes and treatment of blindness.
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