We propose to establish a Neuroscience Imaging Center at OHSU that will provide state-of-the-art instrumentation for electron, fluorescent, and confocal microscopy as well as expertise in designing and analyzing imaging experiments. The Neuroscience Imaging Center will have 3 cores: 1) a Live-cell Imaging Core, 2) a Confocal Core, and 3) an EM Core. The major instrumentation and expertise necessary for establishing these cores exist already at OHSU. However, the lack of fully staffed cores for these microscopes prevents efficient and reliable use of these instruments by NINDS investigators. The Neuroscience Imaging Center will provide the dedicated staff for these microscopes to enhance and facilitate the research by NINDS investigators at OHSU. An advisory committee, aided by an administrative core, will oversee the operations of the Center, review and optimize the effectiveness of the component cores, and manage the fiscal aspects of the Center. The three cores will function together as a truly integrated facility from experimental design, to performance, to data analysis. Instrumentation resources will be located on both the West and Marquam Hill campuses, thereby serving the entire OHSU neuroscience community. Drs. Sue Aicher and Gary Banker will serve as co-Directors of the Center;each Director brings unique scientific and technical qualifications and experience in managing shared facilities. The Center Directors will provide front-end consultation with the investigators, refining experimental questions and formulating optimal technical approaches for individual experiments. Three Core Managers and technical staff will operate the major instrumentation, train new users, and provide full service experiments for some investigators. Training opportunities will be available to serve principal investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students. Neuroscience is the centerpiece of research at OHSU;the Imaging Center will bring cutting-edge imaging to the 23 NINDS-funded research programs identified in this proposal, as well as our NINDS-funded trainees. The Neuroscience Imaging Center will catalyze focused interactions within our entire neuroscience community.
The development of a Neuroscience Imaging Center will facilitate the projects of many OHSU scientists working on a wide range of topics relevant to neurological disorders. A further understanding of normal and pathological brain function through basic science will advance the NIH mission to enhance public health.
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