Core Grant for Vision Research

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This application for a Core Gant for Vision Research represents our effort to establish a facility designed to meet the common needs for our diverse research programs by establishing a core facility that would (1) provide important shared resources to strengthen certain aspects of our current programs and (2) enable us to take advantage of very new resources oi strengthen certain aspects of our current programs and (2) enable us to take advantage of very new technologies in order to expand existing research. While the Scripps Research Institute faculty research programs have had a major impact in the fields of cell biology, chemistry, immunology and molecular biology, strength in the visual sciences is only relatively recent. In fact, prior to 1993, there was only one NEI- funded investigator at the Institute. Since that time, in part due to active recruitment on the part of the Department of Cell Biology, and in part due to the natural evolution of established research programs, nine additional NEI-funded R01's have been awarded to The Scripps Research Institute investigators. This is largely the result of individuals recognizing the relevance of fundamental observations, made in their laboratories, to the visual system. While several of the investigators in this core proposal have research programs with a primary focus on the visual system, others approach the eye from entirely different fields. The long-term commitment to vision cell biology by the investigators coming from non- vision science areas is strengthened by the fact that 3 have recently received competitive renewals for their NEI-funded projects. Over the past two years these individuals have been interacting with increasing frequency. Four colleagues from the neighboring University of California, San Diego (UCSD) also have common interests in cell biology with direct application to the visual system. The core facility, as described in this application, would not only serve the ends of already established NEI-funded investigators, but would also provide a resource that could serve to stimulate the interest and participation of other, non- NEI funded, investigators at Scripps and UCSD. By including four UCSD faculty in this proposal, it would also facilitate the interaction between the two institutions in the field of vision cell biology and hopefully lead to further collaborative efforts between the respective faculties.