Imaging Shared Service

Mission

The mission of the Imaging Shared Service (ISS) is to provide a wide array of state-of-the-art imaging services that span from structural and functional imaging of the cell to imaging the whole animal and humans.

A major aspect of the ISS is to foster a collaborative environment that facilitates innovations that can be translated to the clinic. In addition, various segments of the service provide educational opportunities and onsite expertise to aid the design, execution, and analysis of a wide variety of experiments. Overall, the ISS is committed to broadening the knowledge of faculty, staff, fellows, and students on the latest advances in imaging technologies and applications and providing state-of-the-art imaging research services to customers to produce high-impact science and help them remain competitive in their respective research areas.

Impact to the Cancer Center

Although some of basic imaging services of the facility have been provided to the University of Maryland since the early 1990s, the ISS is a relatively new entity providing imaging services from cell to mouse to whole-body clinical imaging. Within a short period of time the ISS has grown significantly to provide state-of-the-art services and develop novel imaging technologies. Currently, the ISS supports over 160 users, which include a significant number of Cancer Center users. Over the years, we have also seen a significant increase in Cancer Center–related grant funding and publications in high-impact journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Cancer Research, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Journal of the American Medical Association.

The translational research component of the ISS has increased significantly with the addition of image-guided therapeutics and with more users focused on translating their discoveries to the clinic. For the most part, with a little support from the Cancer Center, the ISS is self-supporting and provides the support necessary for new discoveries and translation to the clinic.

Specific Aims

1. Provide comprehensive imaging resources to support basic, preclinical, and clinical imaging, including electron microscopy, confocal microscopy, translational animal imaging, and human imaging for clinical research and clinical trials
2. Develop and implement novel techniques for enhancing imaging capabilities with improved resolution
3. Continue to acquire state-of-the-art imaging instrumentation necessary to support cutting-edge research through mechanisms such as the NIH Shared Instrumentation Grant Program, which has funded many of the existing platforms
4. Offer members educational resources, consultation, and training opportunities to increase their ability to more effectively integrate imaging methodologies into their research programs
5. Provide consultation and bring together collaborative resources for development of novel image-guided instrumentation

Imaging Facilities

• Core for Translational Research Imaging at the University of Maryland School of Medicine
• Core Imaging Facility at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry
• Confocal Microscopy at the University of Maryland School of Medicine
• Xenogen at the University of Maryland School of Medicine