Core Grant for Vision Research

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Research at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKERI) is focused on clinical and basic studies in vision and disorders of the visual system. Smith-Kettlewell scientists have training from diverse medical and scientific backgrounds: ophthalmology, neurophysiology, experimental psychology, engineering, optometry and biophysics. Their main topics of study are oculomotor processing, dynamics of binocular vision, cortical organization and development of the visual pathways, vision in the aging eye, analysis of photoreceptor function, object recognition and computational vision in the service of the disabled. Particular emphasis has been laid on the application of modern imaging techniques to these problems, including the diverse techniques of multifocal ERG, MRI, fMRI, DTI, whole-head VEP, whole-head MEG, optical imaging of cortex, and SLO imaging. For the past three decades, the NEI Core Grant has formed the central component of its most important shared research services, chiefly computer communication and resources, and electronic equipment design and maintenance. Given the moderate scale of the Smith-Kettlewell group, the proximity of the scientists, and their common research interests, collaboration among scientists is standard practice. Principal Investigators share resources with little difficulty. The technical expertise of our Computer Services and Electronics Hardware modules greatly benefits the rapid development of new research agendas - a tremendous advantage for new principal investigators and postdoctoral fellows, and a major factor in our high productivity. In recent years, the vision community has experienced an explosion of research in the area of brain imaging. Smith-Kettlewell has kept step with this technology and has several grants currently funded, with many other projects in the works. The addition of a Brain Imaging Module will provide valuable support resources in the areas of MRI, fMRI, whole-head VEP, DTI, and whole-head MEG imaging that are impractical to provide on individual grants. In addition, a Laboratory Animal Resources Module will provide the technical support and resources necessary to continue the high-level research conducted on the alert behaving primate preparation conducted by a number of groups at Smith-Kettlewell.