High-speed/resolution whole slide scanner supported by two core facilities

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is a shared instrumentation grant from the Analytical Imaging Facility (AIF) and the Histology and Comparative Pathology Facility (HCPF) at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to acquire a fully automated, high-capacity, high-resolution slide scanner that can accommodate both bright field and fluorescence imaging. The AIF of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine supports NIH-funded investigators by giving them access to state-of-the-art microscopy technologies that enhance collaborative, multidisciplinary research. The HCPF provides comprehensive, expert and cost-effective necropsy, histology and histopathology support to investigators. Acquisition of this instrument will have a high impact on the biomedical research at Einstein and will expand the scope of NIH-funded projects at Einstein. Several projects have been identified that will heavily utilize the scanner. These include: the study of the formation of invasion promoting structures used to systemically disseminate metastatic cancer cells in carcinoma (Rohan, Condeelis, Oktay, projects 1, 4, 5); the cooperation of tumor microenvironment and the autonomic nervous system in prostate cancer (Frenette, project 2); the study of molecular controls of intestinal inflammatio and cancer (Mani, project 3); and the analysis of the transcriptome of individual cells within whole normal and tumor tissues (Singer, project 6). There are also additional projects of Minor Users and many users in the Einstein community are anticipated. All of the projects in this application are in need of high-capacity and high- reproducibility scanning so that analyses may be applied to larger tissues, covering hundreds of fields of view, rather than the single fields of view acquired on a standard microscope.