The Ohio State University (OSU) Neuroscience Center Core, now in its 12th year of NINDS support, provides specialized expertise and services that support research into the causes and treatments of neurological disorders. The Center serves a total of more than 40 neuroscientists (20 NINDS-funded) from multiple departments, centers, and institutes, and has become a catalyst for neuroscience research and collaboration across campus. Areas of strength include basic and translational research on neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases, brain tumors and neurotrauma. The Center leverages substantial institutional investment and federal support in research infrastructure and neuroscience at OSU. This includes the recently formed Brain and Spine Hospital and the Neuroscience Research Institute, a multi-million dollar effort that aligns the activities of about 175 basic and clinical neuroscientists across campus. The Center comprises one Administrative Core and four Scientific Cores, all of which are established, functional and successful. The Scientific Cores provide access to services, equipment and expertise not otherwise available to individual PIs, enhancing their ability to execute the aims of their funded projects and facilitating their adoption of new approaches and technologies. This centralization of expertise and equipment in the Scientific Cores increases the efficiency and quality of NINDS-funded research at OSU by minimizing duplication of effort and equipment, and ensuring the uniform application of best practices. The Cores are directed by investigators with deep and proven expertise in the Core services. Core A (Administrative) sets policies, oversees the Core operations and budget, and facilitates communication of Core services to neuroscientists on campus. The Core arranges meetings of the Neuroscience User Group in order to promote core services, identify new needs, and promote cross-core collaborations. Core B (Injury) provides equipment, training and technical expertise, including standardized and well-characterized injury protocols, to support research on spinal cord and brain injury models in rodents. Core C (Behavior) provides access to the equipment and skilled technical expertise necessary to perform comprehensive behavioral phenotyping of rodent models, as well as expert training and consultation on the execution of behavioral experiments. Core D (Electrophysiology) provides specialized equipment, training and technical expertise necessary to monitor and record the electrical activity of neurons and glia. Core E (Imaging) provides access to confocal microscopes including expert training, consultation and assistance with fluorescence imaging of living and fixed cells, tissues and embryos. Collectively these Cores will support 23 NINDS-funded projects (including 12 qualifying R01 projects) totaling $7.5 million dollars in annual funding, plus 14 other NIH-funded neuroscience projects totaling $3.9 million in annual funding, enhancing the research environment for these projects and fostering a cooperative and interactive research environment in which multi-disciplinary approaches and joint research efforts are stimulated.
This award will fund the continued operation of the Ohio State University Neuroscience Center, which consists of four centralized Core facilities that support NINDS-funded research into the causes and treatments of neurological disorders. The Center Cores maximize the efficiency of NINDS-funded research at Ohio State University by offering access to specialized equipment, assistance and expertise that would be costly, impractical or impossible to duplicate in individual laboratories. By making these services available to investigators, the Center ensures uniform application of best practices and encourages the adoption of a broader range of technical approaches by individual investigators, strengthening NINDS-funded research projects across campus. Founded with a P30 grant from the NINDS in 2004, the Neuroscience Center has supported the research of 41 Qualifying NINDS-funded PIs at Ohio State on 67 different Qualifying projects (principally R01s) totaling $91.8 million dollars in NINDS support. In addition, the P30 grant has been acknowledged in more than 220 peer-reviewed publications.
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