The broad objective of the Imaging Core is to use cutting edge optical imaging technologies to non-invasively visualize the macroscopic, microscopic, and molecular processes that underlie skin biology and disease. The Core builds on technologies and expertise in the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic (BLI) and the Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics (LFD), longstanding UC Irvine centers that have pioneered the development and application of optics and photonics technologies for biology and medicine. BLI and LFD will create a new skin imaging suite housing specific, state-of-the-art, in vivo optical imaging platforms to P30 skin biology investigators, including: Multiphoton Microscopy, MPM; Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy, FLIM; Coherent Raman Scattering, CRS; Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging, SFDI; Laser Speckle Imaging, LSI; and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT); as well as computational methods and models for understanding light propagation in skin (i.e. skin optics). These technologies are used to visualize fluorescent molecular probes and reporters as well as provide label-free contrast from intrinsic tissue signals in cells, ECM, and vasculature. By employing these multi-modal, multi-scale technologies, the imaging core will facilitate studies that can lead to powerful new skin biology insights that can be translated to humans. This is accomplished by integrating imaging datasets with the Genomics and Systems biology cores to develop models that can then be tested in biological experiments, including in animals. In addition to providing cutting edge technologies for research, a key component of the Imaging Core will be to provide resources for training, dissemination, and collaboration that drive and support interdisciplinary activities. Our goal is to bring together technology developers, modeling experts, biologists, and clinicians both within UCI and the skin research community at large to build teams that can share knowledge and apply new tools to solve longstanding problems. This will be accomplished by creating a combination of hands-on training, didactic training, and dissemination activities that provide skin biology researchers with the knowledge, resources, and support needed to integrate state-of the-art optical imaging into skin biology research. Finally, our technologies will continue to be optimized, with feedback from the community, to better understand skin biology and pathophysiology, with the ultimate goal of developing new approaches that improve outcomes for patients suffering from cutaneous disease.
