The Advanced Imaging Facility Core (AIFC) is part of an integrated Facility Core program consisting of hypothesis generating, testing, and translational resources within an Integrated Discovery Pipeline, designed to accelerate and advance innovative ideas from hypothesis to practice. The primary goal of the AIFC is to provide CTEHR investigators with state-of-the-art imaging technologies that can be used to visualize and quantify the effects of xenobiotics in live and fixed cells and tissues. By combining state-of-the-art technologies with a sophisticated program of informatics for data mining and sharing, this Core will also allow researchers to tackle some of the most challenging questions in EHS research. The AIFC will play an integral role in supporting the CTEHR mission by carrying out the following aims:
Aim 1 : Maintain a wide range of state-of-the-art microscopy technologies and expertise to address the diverse imaging needs of CTEHR research;
Aim 2 : Provide CTEHR investigators with cost effective, prioritized access to analytical microscopy tools, efficient and effective instrument training and consulting services for experimental design, applications development and data analysis;
Aim 3 : Educate CTEHR members about the capabilities of existing and emerging microscopy technologies and applications and support the career development and mentoring activities of Center investigators;
Aim 4 : Facilitate translational research activities and next generation optical microscopy initiatives through interactions with the other CTEHR Facility Cores and biomedical optics investigators in the Enabling Technologies Thematic Focus Area of the Center. The AIFC fills a critical need for CTEHR investigators by delivering advanced technologies, specialized training and extensive expertise in the analysis of the cytotoxic, genotoxic, mutagenic, and endocrine disrupting activities of a variety of environmental chemicals. A wide range of microscopy hardware/software for advanced light and electron microscopy and fully automated high throughput image-based screening facilities will make it possible for Center investigators to access expensive, rapidly evolving instrumentation and expertise in a cost effective fashion. Access to the powerful AIFC imaging infrastructure provides the opportunity to develop and test novel hypotheses about the critical interactions between cells and environmental factors that contribute to human health and disease.
Program Narrative - Advanced Imaging Core Facility The Advanced Imaging Core Facility (AIFC) will provide CTEHR investigators state-of-the-art imaging technologies that can be used to visualize and quantify cellular and tissue responses to environmental perturbations and intervention strategies in a mechanistic framework. The Core will work with Center investigators to expand multidisciplinary collaborations and increased awareness of the environmental health science (EHS) emphasis of the Center, provide opportunities for career development and for attracting and engaging junior and senior investigators in toxicology and EHS research, and facilitate development of enabling technologies that support EHS research.
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