P30-Supported Core Facilities

Core Vision Research

The Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh has long held a prestigious competitive Core Facility grant award from the National Eye Institute. This funding has supported our vision researchers with specialized expertise and equipment for over two decades and contributes substantially to the Department’s reputation as a world-class leader in vision research. 

The Core has six modules offering expertise and access to resources for different areas of research needs:

(1) Histology, Imaging, and Analysis (HIA) module

(2) Virus Production and Manipulation of Protein/Gene Expression (VPMP) 

(3) hIPSC-Reprogramming and Cell Culture (IPSC-CC) module

(4) Systems Biology (SB) module

(5) In Vivo Testing and Instrumentation (IVTI) module

(6) Analytics, Biostatistics, and Machine Learning (ABML) module

Each module is staffed by a full-time dedicated research specialist, called the Module Supervisor, and it is overseen by a faculty-level Module Director. The Core is available to all eligible Participating Investigators. A researcher qualifies as a Participating Investigator if they work at the University of Pittsburgh and are studying vision research. Others may utilize the Core's services only if they partner in a collaboration with a qualifying Participating Investigator who contributes funding, not merely consultation or advisory support.