Vision research core grant

P30 UCSD Vision Research Core Grant

The National Eye Institute funded P30 Vision Research Center Core Grant (P30EY022589) provides critical support to the UCSD vision research community that are usually not available to individual researchers.

The four cores described below provide access to biostatistical, computational, and technical expertise as well as sophisticated imaging and tissue processing equipment that will enhance the productivity and efficiency of your work.

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P30 UCSD Vision Research Core Grant

UCSD P30 Core Grant

P30 Core Grant Information:

Core One

Biostatistics Core

This core provides statistical analyses and consultation to investigators. A full-time senior biostatistician is available to advise on analysis strategies and implement sophisticated statistical techniques.

Core Two

Animal Structure & Function Core

This core offers Spectralis (Heidelberg Engineering) spectral domain optical coherence tomograph and Micron III and Micron IV instruments, as well as the VERIS™ multifocal electrophysiological system (Electro-Diagnostic Imaging) and a full-time animal technician to assist with ocular structural imaging and functional imaging (electrophysiology) in animals.

The use of ocular imaging methods that enable longitudinal observations in a living animal can greatly reduce the need to sacrifice animals at different time points in an experiment. The core will facilitate this process and centralize the expertise, fluorescence imaging, and retinal function testing equipment to allow our researchers to maximize their time and resources.

  • Directors: Dirk-Uwe Bartsch, PhD + Derek Welsbie, MD, PhD
  • Location: BSB 3007
  • Resources: Micron IV Rodent Imaging System, Micron III Rodent Imaging System, Spectralis SD-OCT with FA/ICGA, PacScan 300 A-scan ultrasound imaging, Gas Anesthesia, IOP measurement, 3D printing
  • Animal Technician: John Carroll
  • Email: jcarroll@health.ucsd.edu
  • Google Calendar: Image Core Lab
Core Three

Computational Ophthalmology Core

The Computational Ophthalmology core provides high-performance computing resources and state-of-the-art custom computer programming to support UCSD vision investigators’ cellular, animal, and human vision and genomics research. The powerful CPU and GPU computational condo clusters (Triton Shared Computational Cluster (TSCC)) managed by the San Diego Supercomputer Center, and custom software tools provided by this core facilitate analysis of these large datasets.

The Computational Ophthalmology core also supports a computer programmer with image analysis and deep learning programming expertise to support computational analyses of both basic science and clinical vision research projects. In addition, institutional software licenses (FilemakerPro, Github, FreezerPro) are provided.

For investigators interested in leveraging data from electronic health records (EHRs), the core also supports a computational data scientist who is Epic Clarity-certified and can conduct queries and data extraction from the UCSD Clinical Data Warehouse. The core is also engaged in collaborations with UCSD Enterprise IT regarding development of research data management infrastructure using Amazon Web Services.

Core Four

Tissue Processing & Histology  Core

This core provides rapid characterization of eye tissues with respect to histology, immunohistochemistry, light microscopy and confocal microscopy by supporting a technician who is familiar with ocular anatomy and techniques required to properly process ocular tissues. Specific instrumentation available through this core includes a Cryostat, Microtome HM355S and HistoStar Embedding station.

Additional Information & Resources
Mission Statement
Engagement with UCSD Health and Campus
Additional Links and Resources

Information about diversity and inclusion is available through multiple venues. First, there are several websites available that provide information about diversity initiatives across the entire campus (diversity.ucsd.edu) and the (School of Medicine). Many departments have their own websites as well. Virtually all departments at UCSD have identified an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) ambassador, typically a faculty member who spearheads diversity-related initiatives in their areas/specialties and also collaborates with various entities across the medical school.

There are several active affinity organizations for UCSD medical students. These include:

‍The Association of Native American Medical Students (ANAMS)
‍The Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association (APAMSA)LGBTQ
Pharmacy and Medical Students (LGBTQ-PhaM)
‍The Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA)
‍Medical Students for Justice (MS4J)
‍The Student National Medical Association (SNMA)

‍UCSD also offers a curricular pathway called Program in Medical Education – Health Equity (PRIME - HEq), which part of a system-wide effort at the University of California to train physicians better able to meet the needs of the diverse Californian population who are traditionally underserved by the medical system. PRIME-HEq faculty work with students to identify populations or communities at risk for health disparities. Students will then receive exposure, training, and the opportunity to work with the identified group to further their passion in the area and provide knowledge and skills to better equip the students to improve health equity for the group.