Our active research consortium in the Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes Division (The Endo- biology Consortium) of the Department of Medicine at the University Of Vermont College Of Medicine are requesting funds to buy a new inverted fluorescence microscope/morphometry workstation as an essential instrument for our group's routine imaging requirements. This microscope system will be a essential addition to our current >30 year old Zeiss photomicroscope systems: an upright stand (Universal), our principal workhorse, and an inverted stand (IM50) with shared objectives, both utilizing a single Spot IR digital camera system. The rationale for the addition to the existing microscopes by a new inverted microscope system is to enhance our current fluorescence imaging capabilities with a broader range of morphometric and high resolution imaging applications presently not supported by our outdated system. A modern motorized stage, focus system, and filter changers will also meet the progressively increasing demand that we are experiencing for higher throughput/high resolution morphometric analyses. This is especially ideal for our needs for reproducible sampling as well as for live cell/tissue imaging studies. Furthermore, the entire group of the Endo- biology Consortium (EBC) will be moving permanently to a newly renovated building, 3 miles off campus, in June 2008 that will significantly impact our ability to use the facilities of the UVM Microscope Imaging Core on an """"""""every day"""""""" basis. The EBC has been a major user of these core facilities for several years, and will continue to be, however, the proposed microscope system will serve as a vital and necessary instrument to maintain the daily needs of our research programs as well as to improve the efficiency and overall quality of our imaging and analytic capabilities for years to come. The EBC at UVM is highly dependent on state-of-the-art microscope imaging strategies and morphometry. Currently, all the equipment necessary for routine paraffin tissue embedding, microdissection, microtomy, and histological/immunohistochemical, staining is available to us. This, along with four dedicated Macintosh G5 imaging workstations, a Nikon microslide scanner, and the latest analytical software for morphometric analyses. This research plan clearly demonstrates the necessity of a multi-channel fluorescence microscope imaging system for our user group to enable us to continue to carry out the high quality scientific inquiries that we have been engaged upon up to this point, and specifically shows the utility of a new Nikon Ti- E inverted microscope imaging system which would augment our severely outdated Zeiss research microscopes making us more even more efficient and productive. Five laboratories have been identified as the main users since they constitute nearly 100% of the projected demand for the instrument given their existing and proposed application requirements. Minor users who have not yet been identified may occupy time on the proposed new system. The Endo-biology Consortium are the first """"""""pioneer"""""""" group in the College of Medicine to move into this new, specifically designated, research complex from the old Given Building;therefore, as the new building becomes occupied by other research groups in the near future, we also anticipate the need for access of this system by other research workers.
