# Imaging Core

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2020 · $191,456

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The broad objective of the Imaging Core is to use cutting edge optical imaging technologies to non-invasively
visualize the macroscopic, microscopic, and molecular processes that underlie skin biology and disease. The
Core builds on technologies and expertise in the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic (BLI) and the
Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics (LFD), longstanding UC Irvine centers that have pioneered the
development and application of optics and photonics technologies for biology and medicine. BLI and LFD will
create a new skin imaging suite housing specific, state-of-the-art, in vivo optical imaging platforms to P30 skin
biology investigators, including: Multiphoton Microscopy, MPM; Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy,
FLIM; Coherent Raman Scattering, CRS; Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging, SFDI; Laser Speckle Imaging,
LSI; and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT); as well as computational methods and models for
understanding light propagation in skin (i.e. skin optics). These technologies are used to visualize fluorescent
molecular probes and reporters as well as provide label-free contrast from intrinsic tissue signals in cells, ECM,
and vasculature. By employing these multi-modal, multi-scale technologies, the imaging core will facilitate
studies that can lead to powerful new skin biology insights that can be translated to humans. This is
accomplished by integrating imaging datasets with the Genomics and Systems biology cores to develop
models that can then be tested in biological experiments, including in animals. In addition to providing cutting
edge technologies for research, a key component of the Imaging Core will be to provide resources for training,
dissemination, and collaboration that drive and support interdisciplinary activities. Our goal is to bring together
technology developers, modeling experts, biologists, and clinicians both within UCI and the skin research
community at large to build teams that can share knowledge and apply new tools to solve longstanding
problems. This will be accomplished by creating a combination of hands-on training, didactic training, and
dissemination activities that provide skin biology researchers with the knowledge, resources, and support
needed to integrate state-of the-art optical imaging into skin biology research. Finally, our technologies will
continue to be optimized, with feedback from the community, to better understand skin biology and
pathophysiology, with the ultimate goal of developing new approaches that improve outcomes for patients
suffering from cutaneous disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9903220
- **Project number:** 5P30AR075047-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Bruce J. Tromberg
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $191,456
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9903220

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9903220, Imaging Core (5P30AR075047-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9903220. Licensed CC0.

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