Abstract: CORE C, IMAGE ANALYSIS AND DATA SCIENCE (IADS) The Ohio State University Vision Sciences Research Core Program (OSU-VSRCP) has established scientific connections and collaborations among the expanding vision research communities 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 (NCH). Our community of vision scientists spans research from ophthalmology, optometry, neuroscience, engineering, veterinary ophthalmology, psychology, and pediatrics. Synergy among this diverse community has been established by monthly seminars called ViSOR (Vision Sciences OSU Research). Program Director (PD) Dr. Moroi has commitment from Deans and Chairs to purchase equipment, support data science, assign scarce space, increase collaborations among NEI-funded PIs, and pilot programs for preliminary data. The COM subsidizes cost for access to the High-Performance Computing Cluster (HPCC) that is maintained by the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), which is relevant for Core C. The leadership and vision 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.’ Three scientific Cores were determined from a survey of 61 vision scientists. Each Core has a Director and Co-director, with at least one of the leaders holding an NEI R01. Core C, Image Analysis and Data Science (IADS) Core was re-organized to provide services to aid in image processing and analysis within four domains of data science (i.e., data strategy, data engineering, analysis & models, and visualization & operationalization) and in a data commons architecture. Current research in healthcare and life sciences is data intensive and requires application of computer science technologies to analyze imaging data, diverse ‘-omics’ data, and data from electronic health records (EHR). The IADS Core was established in response to investigators’ needs for image processing and analysis, modeling, and mining data from EHR. There are two Core leaders: Director Dr. Nathan Doble, COO, and Co-director Dr. Srinivasan Parthasarathy, Dept Computer Science and Engineering, COE. IADS Core goals are described in two Aims: Aim 1. Image Processing and Data Science Services and Aim 2. Development of a Data Commons Architecture. This Core will leverage access to established OSU resources, such as the Translational Data and Analytics Institute (TDAI) and the Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST). Computer resources will be shared by Core C leaders with availability of OSUCOM’s access to the HPCC maintained by the OSC. The expected outcome is increased collaboration for successful new proposals with the shared overarching vision to prevent bli...