The Ohio State University Vision Sciences Research Core Program (OSU-VSRCP) - OVERALL MULTI-COMPONENT NEI P30 PROPOSAL abstract The Ohio State University Vision Sciences Research Core Program (OSU-VSRCP) has established the expanding vision research scientists across five academic units (i.e., College of Medicine (COM), College of Optometry (COO), College of Engineering (COE), College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences) and newly engaged Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Program Director (PD) Dr. Moroi has commitment from Deans and Chairs to purchase equipment (i.e., confocal microscope), support data science, assign scarce space, and increase collaborations. The leadership and scientists are aligned with the NEI PAR- 20-051 ‘to enhance the capabilities of participating NEI-funded investigators and the institution for conducting vision research.’ Synergy of this community has been established with monthly ViSOR (Vision Sciences OSU Research) seminars. Synergy between Cores has been defined by the Steering Committee composed of the PD, Core Directors and Co-directors, who represent Dept. Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (DOVS), Dept. Neuroscience, Dept. Biomedical Informatics, Dept. Computer Science (COE), and COO. Synergy between Cores will coincide with monthly ViSOR meetings. In addition, an Advisory Group will provide guidance twice a year to the Steering Committee. Based on a survey of 61 scientists, three scientific cores are proposed, which are re-organized in response to the prior review led by a Director and Co-director, with at least one of the leaders holding an NEI R01. Core A: Structural and Functional Assessments (SFA) Core A provides technical expertise and well-maintained state-of-the-art equipment for functional and morphological assessment of cells and animal models used in vision research. Dr. Moroi arranged the added value of machine shop services with an agreement with Executive Director Mr. Nate Ames (see letter) of The OSU Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence (CDME) to enhance funded research projects. Core B: Biostatistics, Bioinformatics and Genetic Analysis (BBGA) Core B was re-organized to consolidate services for traditional statistics and statistical genetics. Users can obtain assistance in research design and traditional statistics, as well as bioinformatics, pathway analysis, and large-scale genomic data mining that require advanced computational analytics. Core C: Image Analysis and Data Science (IADS) Core C was re- organized in response to the growing need for image processing, analysis and data science expertise including machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) and development of a Data Commons Architecture for the OSU vision community. The expected outcome is increased collaboration for successful new proposals with the shared overarching goal to prevent blindness, restore vision and develop cures for eye diseases.
