About Us
The mission of the Microscopy Core is to assemble, test, and apply emerging light microscopy techniques and technologies and provide them to the diabetes community served by this grant. The DRC co-sponsors the Biological Imaging Development CoLab (BIDC) at UCSF, a shared site of microscopy innovation and usage. By joining this larger UCSF group, DRC members have access to an even larger base of microscopy technology and knowledge, while the DRC maintains diabetes-specific services for its members.
The Microscopy Core has the following objectives:
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Provide DRC investigators with access to a large number of microscopes spanning many technologies, including sophisticated laser scanning confocal, two-photon, light-sheet, widefield live-cell, total internal reflection fluorescence, and brightfield microscopes all with various unique features and levels of automation. Additionally, the Microscopy Core supports a suite of Analysis Stations, which are dedicated workstations hosting a variety of proprietary and open-source software. The Microscopy Core allows the costly equipment resources and the personnel expenses to be distributed over a wide number of laboratories and funding groups, increasing access for all.
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Provide consultation and support for advanced diabetes-centric imaging techniques to facilitate access to those interested in studying diabetes.
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Provide training in advanced and specialized new microscopy technologies, as well as ensure quality control of equipment and experimental procedures, thereby increasing scientific rigor.
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Enable development of new methods and technologies in imaging tools for diabetes research.
Facilities
The Microscopy Core has space located within two connected buildings on Parnassus campus. Three microscopes heavily used by DRC investigators are located within the UCSF DRC on the 11th floor of the Health Sciences West building. Five additional microscopes are on the same floor of the DRC in the attached Medical Sciences building. The remaining available microscopes are located within the Health Sciences West or Medical Sciences building within a short 5-minute walk or elevator ride from the DRC.
DRC Specific Consultation Services
While the Microscopy Core offers fantastic breadth of technology and expertise, DRC Specific Core Services within the microscopy core provide extra focus on diabetes-relevant tissues to make these areas more readily analyzed by investigators new to these areas. We have established five major areas – pancreas, lymph node/thymus, brain, liver, and fat. The pancreas microscopy consultation service is led by Greg Ku and Michael German who have experience with imaging the pancreas using 3D tissue clearing as well as more traditional microscopic investigations of islet biology. The lymph node/thymus service is led by Mark Anderson who has invested heavily into imaging these key immune organs. Allison Xu leads a consultation service centered around imaging in the brain and the liver. Finally, Suneil Koliwad leads the consultation service on adipose tissue. By combining the technical expertise of the Microscopy Core with the organ specific knowledge of this group of experience investigators, the core will enable faster and more rigorous generation of new data in DRC-specific areas. We will continue to poll the DRC Microscopy Core user base to determine DRC specific needs in terms of technology and training.