UCSF and the California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3) have collaborated with Nikon Instruments Inc. to open the UCSF Nikon Imaging Center at the Mission Bay campus. The new center, located in the Center for Advanced Technology in Genentech Hall, features six state-of-the-art optical microscopes for digital imaging of live cells. It will accelerate bioresearch in studies of brain and heart development, early stages of cancer, chromosome structure, fat accumulation, cell migration, cell division and cell signaling.
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Director of the UCSF Nikon Imaging Center, Kurt Thorn (far left), explains the functions of one of the six advanced optical microscopes available to UCSF researchers. |
Friday, Sept. 29, 2006, marked the official inauguration of the center with tours, a reception and remarks from QB3 Executive Director Regis Kelly, PhD, Nikon Instruments President Hidetoshi Mori and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
"This is what it's all about: creating relationships around the world to enable our city's researchers to lead cutting-edge discoveries," said Newsom. "San Francisco is a leader in biotechnology."
Kelly welcomed the guests and compared the collaboration between UCSF and the world leader in digital imaging technology to a marriage. Kelly gave thanks to Nikon and the nine other companies that contributed to the creation of this $3 million facility.
"This is the biggest thing Nikon has ever done with a university," said Kelly. "Our center is the best in the country and opens so many possibilities for research that we didn't have before."
The center offers free access to UCSF researchers and technical support from on-site equipment experts. The facility will also be available to selected biotech companies for a fee, bringing more attention to the value of Mission Bay resources for the private sector.
Nikon has opened five imaging centers around the world, and the UCSF center is the second to open in the United States, with the first located at Harvard University. UCSF researcher Orion Weiner, PhD, previously had worked at Harvard and, as chair of the QB3-UCSF Nikon Advisory Committee, played a leading role in developing the UCSF imaging center.
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Dennis Eastburn (far left) explains to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Nikon President Hidetoshi Mori, Nikon's Kunio Toshimitsu, and QB3 Executive Director Reg Kelly, how this 6-dimensional microscope helps researchers identify genetic links to cancer in epithelial cells. |
During the tour, Weiner explained potential applications of two of the six microscopes. "With the time-lapse microscope, you can see embryonic stem cells which have differentiated into myocytes," said Weiner, pointing to a computer screen of beating heart cells. "The laser-based autofocus keeps the sample fixed and in focus, so you can observe the differentiation process and piece together pathways of how these cells became heart cells."
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UCSF researcher Orion Weiner, PhD, studies live beating heart cells of mice in the Time Lapse Microscope, where samples are contained in an environmentally controlled box. |
Nikon representatives also presented the advanced imaging capabilities of the equipment, pointing to the bold, fluoresced, three-dimensional cellular components observed with exceptional clarity and depth. Nikon's Vice President of Microscopy Stan Schwartz said that both parties benefit from this alliance.
"For me, I want to give back to the researchers who bought microscopes from me years ago," said Schwartz. "With this center, we want to re-educate and reinvigorate the next generation."
Photos/Elisabeth Fall
Related Links:
New Nikon Imaging Center Opens at UCSF
News Release, September 29, 2006
Nikon Imaging Center @ QB3
QB3: California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research
Weiner Lab
