Project Summary This request is for funds to purchase a Zeiss Light Sheet 7 microscope. This instrument will be housed, managed, and maintained by the Optical Imaging Core Facility (OIF) at UT Health San Antonio (UT Health SA), which is jointly managed by UT Health SA and the Mays Cancer Center. The OIF supports 70 NIH-funded laboratories. Last year alone, the OIF supported 92 externally funded research projects with a total award amount of more than $55 million. As a component of Mays Cancer Center, an NCI designated cancer center, the OIF received an “Outstanding” rating during the recent on site visit for the NIH/NCI P30 grant renewal. The type of instrument requested is currently unavailable at UT Health SA and at any other institutions in the city of San Antonio. The acquisition of this new imaging modality is considered essential in order for the OIF to continue providing the needed services to our research community, in particular, for achieving rapid, low toxicity, high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging of a broad range of specimens for a large number of NIH-funded research projects. The new instrument is particularly critical to the major users listed in the proposal, whose highly competitive and innovative research is dependent on the availability of this instrument. Investigators, including both well-established and new, from diverse research areas, will greatly benefit. The new instrument can truly lead to a better understanding basic biological systems and to develop novel therapeutic strategies in treating many diseases states, including cancer, brain injury, degenerative neurological disease, dental pain, vision disease, osteoporosis and bone loss, and digestive disease. The availability of this new instrument will also stimulate other investigators at UT Health SA and nearby institutions to move their research into exciting and highly competitive new directions. Overall, this acquisition will without a doubt, significantly impact a large number of NIH-funded investigations covering an expansive array of disciplines in biomedical research.