Vision Research at UCLA has a long and rich history, dating back more than 50 years. The objective of the Core Grant for Vision Research at UCLA is to provide a critically needed infrastructure to support the research activities of this talented group of scientists whose common goal is to increase basic knowledge of the visual system and its disorders. To achieve this objective, personnel and instrument support facilities are organized according to the following components: (1) Microscopy and Image Analysis, (2) Live imaging and Functional Evaluation, (3) Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Instrumentation, (4) Prototype Construction, (5) Gene and Cell Delivery, and (6) Software Engineering. These components provide instrumentation and skills commonly used by multiple laboratories and are essential to the success of on-going projects as well as to enable new collaborative efforts. They provide tangible support to a diverse array of vision scientists, who are currently supported by 27 active NEI R01 grants, plus additional NEI funding. Purchase of state-of- the-art instruments in the core components has been made possible by the generosity of institutional support, which, in many cases has leveraged extramural support to make a purchase effective. This generosity will continue in the next 5-year period. Support in the form of this Core grant is requested to maintain these instruments through service contracts, and to provide necessary personnel support to assist and train members of core laboratories in the use of the Core facilities.
Overall Core Component Project Narrative The proposed core facilities will continue to provide essential support for the activities of vision researchers in at UCLA. Thus, the core provides equipment and technical skills to support research on the visual system and its disorders, and to foster collaborations in these endeavors.
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