The Phase III Pathology Core has evolved from a need for specialized expertise in assessing the morphology of adipose tissue as a link between obesity and cardiovascular diseases. The Core has developed extensive expertise in tissue processing, paraffin embedding sectioning and basic stains for adipose tissue as well as many other tissues from a range of species. The Phase III Pathology Core will continue to provide centralized services for basic histology procedures and imaging, simplifying and standardizing the collection of pathology data. Within Phase III, this core will build upon experience and expand equipment capabilities with an updated embedding center, provision of immunostaining services, and through partnering with the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) Biospecimens Core Biobank. This Biobank collects several tissues, including adipose tissue from several locations, from humans to speed the pace of translational studies. During Phase II of the COCVD, this core performed 376 projects (to date) for 42 investigators, processing >6000 samples, embedding >4700 samples, and sectioning >3600 sections to generate almost 30,000 slides. In year 8 of the current program, this core has provided services to more than 150 projects, and routinely services more than 50 projects/year. With expanded services, by partnering with the CCTS to serve as a pathology conduit for investigators wishing to analyze human tissue morphology, and with an expansion of the focus of the COCVD to include obesity as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, we anticipate that increased demand for the services of this core will transition the core to self- sustaining capacity.
