ADVANCE AND SUPPORT THE RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. The RCMI-supported core shared research facilities at the Center for Study of Gene Structure and Function at Hunter College provide essential services to support the first-class research of our scientists. It is imperative that we improve the strengths of the facilities by constantly updating the equipment and expertise of the managers and users. The facilities also allow us to compete for topnotch scientists, highly qualified graduate students and post-doctoral researchers who contribute to our research output. An environment where researchers compete successfully for outside funding is critical to our overall aims, and with the addition of new and planned facilities we will be able to better address the problem of health disparities in the United States. In the next grant period, we plan to hire essential personnel and to upgrade the equipment in the following facilities: Bioimaging, Animal Care, Genomics, Internet2 and the Gene Center Local Area Network (LAN). Our plans include improving these core shared research facilities as well as the Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS), the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and the X-Ray Diffraction Facilities. These improvements require the following: (a) supporting service contracts with grant funds and users' fees; (b) upgrading the skills of facilities' managers through advanced training, continuing education, external collaborations and professional certifications; and (c) upgrading standard operating procedures, record-keeping, manuals, and websites. Improving our core facilities will help us to maximize our scientific output and attain the goals of the RCMI Program.