# Leica Stellaris Confocal for Kidney Imaging Core

> **NIH NIH S10** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2021 · $595,506

## Abstract

Abstract:
This request is for funds to purchase a Leica Stellaris confocal system that will be housed, managed, and
maintained by the Kidney Imaging Core (KIC), an integral component of the NIDDK P30 George M. O’Brien
Pittsburgh Center for Kidney Research. The KIC supports the specialized imaging needs of epithelial biologists
who study the physiology and pathophysiology of the kidneys and lower urinary tract. Our NIH-funded users are
critically dependent on confocal microscopy because it allows them to probe the cellular and molecular
components of epithelial tissues, which have a pronounced three-dimensional architecture and specialized
membrane domains. The KIC has an immediate need for a new, dedicated KIC confocal system to replace our
current Leica SP5 confocal system, which is increasingly unreliable and obsolescent. Its faults include
progressive and unfixable problems with both its software and hardware, its loss of continued support from Leica,
its limited ability to simultaneously detect multiple weak fluorescent signals, and its lack of newer imaging
technologies such as fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM). Thus, the requested Leica Stellaris system includes
next-generation white-light laser hardware, high-efficiency Power HyD detectors, and FLIM support. In addition
to replacing our current system with a much more reliable and modern Stellaris system, the increased
performance and functionality of the requested system will provide a critical tool that will accelerate the research
of numerous NIH-funded investigators who are studying the molecular and cellular basis of kidney and lower
urinary tract function and disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10174135
- **Project number:** 1S10OD028596-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Gerard L Apodaca
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $595,506
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-06-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10174135

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10174135, Leica Stellaris Confocal for Kidney Imaging Core (1S10OD028596-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10174135. Licensed CC0.

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