Centers and Cores

Multi-Photon Microscopy Core

The Multi-Photon Microscopy Core is located in the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute. The Core provides in vivo imaging of intact organs in small animals with high temporal and subcellular resolution, ideal for studying (patho)physiological processes in health and disease. The Core is currently supported by the Peti-Peterdi lab and the Biomedical Imaging Science Initiative. Instruments include a Leica TCS SP2 AOBS Multi-Photon Confocal Microscope System. Visit Site

Dr. Janos Peti-Peterdi, Director
Multi-Photon Microscopy Core
Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute
ZNI313
1501 San Pablo Street
Los Angeles, CA 90089
323-442-4337

Saban Institute Small Animal Imaging Research Center

The Small Animal Imaging Laboratory at Childrens Hospital (Saban Small Animal Imaging Research Center) is a full-service in-vivo imaging laboratory that collaborates with investigators at various Schools and Centers at USC.

Current projects utilize preclinical animal models that are focused on imaging cell proliferation, tumor angiogenesis, tumor metastasis and receptor expression, as well as on developing methods for quantifying treatment response assessment from image-guided internal radiotherapy, chemotherapy and gene therapy.

The equipment available in this laboratory includes two Xenogen for In Vivo optical imaging using bioluminescence as well as fluorescence imaging, a 7T micro Magnetic Resonance Imager (MRI), a micro X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) instrument, a Gamma Medica combined CT micro Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), 2 Faxitron imaging units for plain film imaging, an Acuson 128 for ultrasonic imaging, and a Siemens portable X-ray machine for large animal plain film imaging. Visit Site

Rex Moats, PhD
Saban Institute Small Animal Imaging Research Center
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
4661 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323-669-4110

Small Animal Imaging at the USC Molecular Imaging Center

The USC Molecular Imaging Center (USC MIC) affiliated with the Department of Radiology, USC Keck School of Medicine is located in the Institute for Genetic Medicine (IGM) as well as the Cancer Research Laboratory (CRL) on the USC Health Science Campus (HSC). USC MIC occupies approximately 4000 sq.ft. in the basement of the IGM building and offers accessibility for scientists and physicians to a wide variety of state-of-the-art imaging instrumentations, including a full-scale PET scanner, a microPET scanner, a microCT imaging system, optical imagers (see Research Facilities) and a Visualsonics high-resolution animal ultrasound scanner. Our labs in the CRC building are set up for cell biology and molecular biology experimentations. Full-time scientists at USC Molecular Imaging Center assist investigators from across Southern California to perform imaging experiments and data analysis. In addition, the Molecular Imaging Center collaborates with Keck School of Medicine and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles faculty whose research ranges from development of molecular imaging agents, techniques, instrumentations to preclinical and clinical studies of disease models. We also maintain collaborations with scientists and physicians from Viterbi School of Engineering, College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, and outside institutions.

A post-doctoral, Dr. Cai, is currently funded in the Small Animal Imaging at the USC Molecular Imaging Center by the Biomedical Imaging Science Initiative (BISI) to provide services to investigators toward the design of their experiments and data processing needs for conducting BISI approved pilot projects.Visit Site

Dr. Peter Conti, Professor
Department of Radiology, Keck School of Medicine
1510 San Pablo St., Room #350
Los Angeles California 90033
323-442-5940

Dornsife Cognitive Neuroscience Imaging Center

USC’s Dornsife Cognitive Neuroimaging Center is dedicated to research service and teaching in the area of cognitive neuroimaging. In addition to providing a site for the entire execution of imaging projects, the center offers courses on neuroimaging meant to increase the imaging expertise of the USC community (taught by Zhong-Lin Lu and Bosco Tjan) and postdoctoral seminars. The Center also fosters the development of new studies by offering “pilot scans” for meritorious research that may lead to full-fledged grant proposals to external agencies. Access to the Center is explained at its website: brainimaging.usc.edu. The Director and Co-Director of the Center are, respectively, Dr. Hanna Damasio and Dr. Zhong-Lin Lu. The Center is a unit of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

The Center works closely with the Viterbi School’s Biomedical Imaging Research Laboratory, which is directed by Dr. Richard Leahy

Located in the University Park Campus, the center is built around a 3T Siemens Trio scanner with high performance gradients and a multi-channel data acquisition system. Dedicated solely to research studies, the MR center is available for high-resolution anatomical studies, diffusion imaging (DWI), functional MRI (fMRI) and MR spectroscopy (MRS). Additional tools for neuroimaging include: visual and auditory stimulation systems; eye tracking, psychophysiological recording, and response boxes. The Center encompasses an Imaging Analysis Laboratory with multiple workstations equipped with SPM, AFNI, Matlab, Brain Voyager, QX and Brainvox.

Topics covered by the ongoing studies align with the research interests of the growing cognitive neuroscience community at the UPC, although they also include the work of investigators at the HSC, UC Irvine, UCLA, and House Ear Institute. The UPC studies are strongly interdisciplinary involving investigators from the College (Departments of Psychology and Biological Sciences, Brain and Creativity Institute), the Schools of Engineering, Education, Occupational Science, Business, Cinematic Arts, and Music. Thirty scientists are currently making use of the facility and conducting studies on a large range of topics in cognitive neuroscience. Visit Site

Hanna Damasio, Director
Dornsife Neuroscience Imaging Center
University of Southern California
3620-A McClintock Ave
Los Angeles CA 90089
213-740-3462

USC Biomedical Imaging Core Lab

The USC Biomedical Imaging Core Laboratory, Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, directed by Manbir Singh Ph.D., is dedicated to the development of new methodologies in medical imaging including data acquisition, processing and visualization for a wide range of applications. This laboratory engages in interdisciplinary research with faculty and students from the USC Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Radiology, Electrical Engineering, Neurology, Psychology, Biokinesiology, and Computer Science as well as the USC School of Pharmacy. The current focus of work is in MRI structural and functional imaging of the human brain.

The laboratory is physically located at DRB-360 within the Department of Biomedical Engineering. There is space for eight graduate students/post-docs to conduct data and image processing research work. The laboratory maintains 14 workstations (mixture of PCs, MACs and Sun computers), all interconnected by a local network and also connected to USCnet via internet for World-wide access. A secure 1.6 Tb RAID 10 server is located in the laboratory to store and archive data and images. Also a web-based imaging database resides on this server for password-protected access that can be used fo data-sharing among sites.

The laboratory is an integral part of the new NIH funded 3T MRI Research Resource for Cardiovascular and Neuro Imaging (PIs: G. Pohost M.D., and M. Singh Ph.D., website 3tmri.usc.edu for details). The laboratory facilitates access to this NIH 3T MRI facility and welcomes collaborative studies from investigators both within and outside USC.

A post-doctoral, Dr. Witaya Sungkarat, is currently funded in the Biomedical Imaging Core Laboratory by the Biomedical Imaging Science Initiative (BISI) to provide services to investigators toward the design of their experiments and data processing needs for conducting BISI approved pilot projects on the 3T MRI scanner.Visit Site

Manbir Singh, PhD, Director
USC Biomedical Imaging Core Lab
213-740-0837

Norris Center Cell and Tissue Imaging Core

The Cell and Tissue Imaging Core, or Confocal Core, a joint venture with the Doheny Eye Institute, has a 5th generation confocal microscope available for use. Current services offered by the cell and tissue core module include specimen preparation and training in the operation of laser scanning confocal microscopy, multiphoton laser scanning confocal microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fluorescence and brightfield microdissection and microcapture, and digital photomicroscopy.Visit Site

David Hinton, Director
Cell and Tissue Imaging Core
Doheny Eye Institute
DVRC 214
1355 San Pablo St.
Los Angeles, CA 90089
323-442-6622

Keck Center for Liver Diseases Confocal Microscopy Core

The Center for Liver Diseases Imaging Core provides confocal microscopy services. Instruments include a Nikon Confocal Microscopy Imaging System and a Nikon Diaphot inverted microscope with multiple optical filters. Visit Site

Dr. Sarah Hamm-Alvarez
c/o Research Center for Alcoholic Liver and Pancreatic Diseases
1333 San Pablo Street, MMR 4th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90089-9141
323-442-3121

PET Imaging Science Center

The USC PET imaging center offers the most advanced technology in positron emission tomography imaging (PET) combined with Computerized Tomography (CT) to created a sophisticated, non-invasive diagnostic study of the biochemistry and physiologic function of the human body. The PET imaging clinic houses a Siemens/CTI 953A whole-body PET scanner and associated instruments.Visit Site

Dr. Peter Conti, Director
PET Imaging Science Center
1510 San Pablo St., Room #350
Los Angeles California 90033
323-442-5940

Last updated: Sunday, January 6, 2008, 10:02am PDT

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