# Core Equipment for Assessment of Ocular Disease in Animal Models

> **NIH NIH S10** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2020 · $347,555

## Abstract

Project Summary:
 A group of NIH-funded investigators at the University of Florida is requesting funds to purchase
equipment supporting the measurement of ocular outcomes in rodent models of eye diseases. The Department
of Ophthalmology at the University of Florida supports an Ocular Animal Core behind the pathogen barrier in the
animal care facility to promote longitudinal investigations of animal models of ocular diseases and the outcomes
of therapies in these model systems. This application describes the immediate needs of our research faculty for
instruments capable of 1) documenting and quantifying changes in retinal health (funduscope and optical
coherence tomography), 2) measuring restoration and/or preservation of visual function (behavioral acuity assay
system), and 3) facilitating surgical isolation of labeled tissue for downstream single-cell assays (fluorescence
stereomicroscope). The Leica-Bioptigen EnvisuR OCT system will replace our existing OCT, providing a much
needed improvement in axial resolution of the retinal layers. The Micron IV funduscope will provide both new
capacity and new capabilities (open a bottleneck and allow for collection of more highly resolved data and more
fluorophore options). The existing OCT and funduscope in the core facility are maximally used, or are outdated
and cannot be upgraded to accomplish the imaging needs of the major and minor users of this application. The
CerebralMechanics Acumen water maze will add the capability of measuring higher order visual processing
mediated by the visual cortex, and will be a new addition to the Ocular Animal Core. The Leica fluorescent
stereomicroscope will also be a new addition to the barrier facility, providing the capability of surgically isolating
labeled tissue for downstream applications.
 As with the current instruments, the proposed new equipment will be housed and managed in the Ocular
Animal Core, a shared-use core in the animal care facility. All major and minor users will have access to the
instrument and training will be provided through the established core infrastructure. The usage charges and
institutional funding have historically supported the service contracts and other repairs; therefore, we foresee no
difficulty in this arrangement continuing for these new pieces of equipment. The shared core facility has an
extensive track record of education, training and productivity. The availability of this technology is crucial for the
mission of the University of Florida with the overall goals of finding treatments for human disease and to train
the next generation of outstanding investigators in biomedical sciences.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9938155
- **Project number:** 1S10OD028476-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** W CLAY SMITH
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $347,555
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-16 → 2021-09-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9938155

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9938155, Core Equipment for Assessment of Ocular Disease in Animal Models (1S10OD028476-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9938155. Licensed CC0.

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