Alterations & Renovations for Enhanced Phenotyping

Alterations and Renovations: Summary The overall goal of the Center for Integrated Biomedical and Rural Health Research is to strengthen the biomedical research infrastructure in Montana with a focus on the central, multi-disciplinary theme of Integrated Biomedical and Rural Health Research. As noted throughout the application, integrated research is generally

defined as interdisciplinary research that incorporates, or integrates, basic and translational research with anticipated applications, whereas rural health research is most often focused on equity and access to healthcare more than on the development of new diagnostics and therapeutics. We propose to establish the Center for

Integrated Biomedical and Rural Health Research (CIB-RHR) as the only interdisciplinary research center in the state of Montana to combine the basic and translational research strength of the only independent nonprofit biomedical research institute in the state, with the training opportunities and research resources of the only

nonprofit medical school in the state, and the clinical strength of the largest comprehensive health provider system in central Montana. The Alterations and Renovations, proposed here, are critical improvements to our mouse phenotyping facilities, a central part of the translation of basic science to preclinical models and clinical

applications. The result is that we can optimize and expand services available within the Gene Editing and Mouse Model Assessment (GEMMA) Core by adding a Gait Analysis system, which will be used by multiple COBRE projects, and an in vivo bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging system that will accommodate current and

future COBRE projects and increase capacity for multidisciplinary basic and translational research across a broad range of biomedical fields. To accommodate these upgrades for phenotyping, we renovate the space that will house the expanded capabilities. Given the vital importance of mouse phenotyping to all of the proposed

COBRE projects and the long-term objectives of the GEMMA Core and the Center for Integrated Biomedical and Rural Health Research, we propose Alterations and Renovations that will make significant improvements to our mouse assessment facilities and ensure research rigor through more consistent and reproducible data.