SUMMARY – OVERALL COMPONENT This P30 renewal proposal requests continued funding to support the operation of six resource modules within the Vision Institute (VI) at Mercy Pavilion of the University of Pittsburgh. The VI provides a home base for the basic and clinical vision research for ~30 vision scientists in four departments at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. The innovative work of these scientists is advancing our knowledge of corneal cell biology and regeneration; glaucoma (imaging, trabecular meshwork stem cell biology and stem cell-based therapeutics, and ocular biomechanics); retinal and RPE development, degeneration and regeneration; visual neuroscience; ocular infectious disease; ocular immunology; the ocular microbiome; and visual/cortical prosthetics, among other areas. We are a collegial, collaborative, and productive group of researchers; nineteen of our vision scientists hold twenty-two qualifying NEI-funded R01 grants. In addition, three vision scientists hold four vision-related R01 grants that are funded through other NIH institutes, two vision scientists hold U01 grants from the NEI, and one vision scientist holds a K99 award from the NEI. The remaining participating faculty in the Core Grant either hold significant vision-related grants from foundations or are new investigators and are generating pilot data for submission of their first NEI/NIH R01 grants. Importantly, many of these new investigators have already been successful in obtaining seed grants from vision research foundations to support their research programs. Over the last 35 years, the Core Grant for Vision Research has played a central role in enhancing the NEI-funded research of our participating faculty and supporting new faculty in establishing their vision research programs. In this renewal application, the Core Grant will continue to provide resources, services, and technologies that are essential to the success of the vision research efforts underway at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. The Core Grant enhances the overall vision research environment in Pittsburgh by: 1) providing core resources that are critical to the success of vision scientists; 2) enhancing collaboration among vision scientists in the Pittsburgh area, 3) aiding in the recruitment of new vision scientists to Pittsburgh, and 4) providing intellectual and technical support for the advanced training of students and fellows in vision sciences.