The most compelling features of daily life include the ability to navigate through our environment and tocommunicate with each other. These functions are fundamental to survival, but are also among the first toencounter trouble in the diseased or aging nervous system. The University of Rochester holds a set of NIHsupportedresearch programs dedicated to the sensory, motor, integrative, and cellular mechanismsunderlying navigation and communication. Research ranges from molecular and genetic approaches tocellular neurophysiology in awake animals to human perception, and includes strong translational andclinical elements. These characteristics provide a compelling framework for our P-30, Center for Navigationand Communication Sciences (CNCS). New this past grant period, the CNCS is now operating at a steadystatethat exceeds all expectations, largely due to committed leadership matched by a dedicated andengaged faculty and staff, cooperative and shared core services, a strong advisory and quality assuranceprocess, and an infrastructure and community that has proven attractive to new collaborations and newinvestigators.The CNCS allows investigators to efficiently share costly, time-consuming, essential but cumbersome,and innovative research services. The CNCS includes three cores: 1) a Human Subjects Core to consolidateand coordinate the recruitment, screening, scheduling, and databasing of subjects across projects; 2) aResearch Services Core that includes a Histology & Imaging Unit (tissue preparation, image analysis &reconstruction), an Electronic/Mechanical Shop (repair and construction of lab components and devices), anAnimal Research Unit (mutant and knockout preparations, husbandry and screening), and a Proteomics Unit(specialized protein analysis); and 3) a Technology and Computation Core, including a Lab Technology Unit(automated lab systems for stimulus and behavioral control, data acquisition, and data analysis) and aComputation Unit to support PC and network operations, software library, web support, and staff training.Some service units share support with the Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy, the Center for VisualScience (an NEI-P30), and two program projects (an NIA-P01 and an NINDS-P01). The CNCS exploits ourinherently collegiate ecology and augments our lab capabilities through outstanding core personnel andfacilities in dedicated space. All cores and units operate efficiently and balance the combined goals ofproviding both needed though sometimes mundane services as well as novel and innovative solutions thattransform into tomorrow's capabilities. This ensures high-quality, efficient, and diverse services to all, in arobust infrastructure that enriches the productivity of our research, promotes collaborations amonginvestigators, attracts new faculty and students to our research mission, facilitates further institutionalsupport, and ultimately contributes to the health of the community and the nation.
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