# Cellular Imaging Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · 2020 · $97,739

## Abstract

CELLULAR IMAGING CORE (CORE C)
ABSTRACT
The research efforts of IDDRC investigators at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
have increasingly come to rely on high-end and expensive microscopy and digital imaging approaches.
Understanding the underlying mechanisms and structural changes associated with neurodevelopmental
disorders require that researchers visualize the morphological and cell signaling events in fixed tissue
and in intact network of cells in situ, such as in in vitro organ explants and in vivo awake behaving
organisms. The IDDRC Cellular Imaging Core furthers research and advancement of knowledge by
lowering barriers to entry for state-of-the-art light microscopy. Our specific aims are: 1) To provide
affordable access to high-end microscopy instruments and image analysis workstations. 2) To provide
training, consultation and education to IDDRC researchers, and 3) To identify and obtain new
equipment and technology that is relevant to the research of IDDRC investigators. The core offers
multiphoton, confocal and widefield microscopes as well as image analysis workstations and software
that are widely used by IDDRC investigators. Over the past grant period, 32 IDDRC labs have used the
core an average of 9,187 hours/year. During this period, the core expanded its capacity and capabilities
by raising $1.4 million in outside funding for the purchase of new instrumentation, including a $500,000
NIH shared instrumentation grant for a multiphon/confocal. IDDRC investigators have used the core to
investigate and advance our understanding of normal and pathological neural development, plasticity,
and function.
The goal of the Boston Children's Hospital IDDRC Cellular Imaging Core for this next funding period is
to continue to provide IDDRC investigators with affordable access to state-of-the-art equipment,
services, training and advice for projects using light microscopy. In fulfilling this goal, the core helps to
insure that instrument cost or technical complexity will not slow or thwart research into intellectual
disabilities and developmental disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10003042
- **Project number:** 5U54HD090255-05
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Chinfei Chen
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $97,739
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10003042

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10003042, Cellular Imaging Core (5U54HD090255-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10003042. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*