Research Core Center for Auditory and Vestibular Studies

描述（由申请人提供）：听觉和前庭研究中心（RCAVS）位于华盛顿大学医学院耳鼻喉科，是一个全方位服务的集中设施，旨在支持NIDCD任务领域资助研究的科学进步。核心中心由四个独立的研究核心和一个行政外壳组成，它们相互作用以实现中心的目标。提供的服务领域包括：功能测试、组织学、显微镜和数字成像以及临床和转化研究。虽然核心服务的主要目的是协助构成合格研究基地的成员项目，但也向非合格项目和外部项目提供服务。RCAVS目前支持24名基础科学家和10名临床/应用科学家。会员资格免费授予当地科学界在NIDCD任务领域进行研究的任何独立研究者。我们的服务还支持外部用户，他们可以从RCAVS的设备、技术和专业知识中受益。该中心拥有一个合格的研究基地，远远高于申请P30研究核心中心的最低要求。RCAVS的具体目标包括：1)为研究与NIDCD任务区域重叠的调查人员提供集中的设备和服务；2)鼓励合作努力，支持核心成员提出新的研究问题，并吸引新的研究人员到NIDCD的任务领域；3)通过旨在加强基础和临床科学家之间的科学互动和合作的机制促进转化研究。三个基础科学核心之间的创新合作安排为听觉和前庭疾病的新小鼠模型提供了快速系统的评估（功能和解剖）。创新的免费收费结构鼓励与外部研究人员合作，开发新的研究问题，并吸引新的研究人员到NIDCD的任务领域。这项应用的最终影响是促进人类听力、平衡和语言障碍治疗的发展，并作为成功的转化研究项目的典范。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Research Center for Auditory and Vestibular Studies (RCAVS), housed in the Department of Otolaryngology at Washington University School of Medicine, is a full service centralized facility that was developed to support the scientific progress of funded research in mission areas of the NIDCD. The Core Center is composed of four individual Research Cores and an Administrative Shell which interact to fulfill the aims of the Center. The areas in which services are offered include: Functional Testing, Histology, Microscopy & Digital Imaging and Clinical & Translational Research. Although core services are primarily designed to assist member projects that constitute the Qualifying Research Base, services are also offered, as available, to non-qualifying projects in NIDCD mission areas as well as outside projects. The RCAVS currently supports 24 basic scientists and 10 clinical/applied scientists. Membership is freely granted to any independent investigator in the local scientific community that conducts research in mission areas of the NIDCD. Our services additionally support outside users that can benefit from the equipment, technology and expertise found within the RCAVS. The Center boasts a Qualified Research Base that is well above the minimum required for application as a P30 Research Core Center. Specific Aims of the RCAVS include the following: 1) To provide centralized equipment and services for investigators whose research overlaps mission areas of the NIDCD; 2) to encourage collaborative efforts, support the development of new research questions by core members and attract new researchers to mission areas of the NIDCD; and 3) to promote translational research via mechanisms designed to enhance scientific interactions and collaborations between basic and clinical scientists. An innovative collaborative arrangement between the three basic science cores provides for the rapid systematic evaluation (function and anatomy) of new mouse models of auditory and vestibular disorders. An innovative no-cost fee structure encourages collaboration with outside investigators, development of new research questions, and attracts new researchers to NIDCD mission areas. The ultimate impact of this application is to facilitate progress in the development of treatments for human disorders of hearing, balance and speech and to serve as a model for a successful translational research program.