Core Services
The primary objective of the Waisman Center Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Research Center's Core Services is to provide core support and facilities for cohesive, interdisciplinary research and research training. Funds for the research projects using these core facilities come from independent sources including federal, state, and private organizations.
To view powerpoint presentations on our scientific Core Services please click here.
To view an overview of all Core Services click here.
The Waisman Center cores include:
- Administrative Core
- The Administrative Core is the nucleus of the Waisman Center IDDRC.
It provides the scientific, administrative, and fiscal leadership of
the center, and supports core projects’ needs for communications
expertise and computing security.
Learn more about the Administrative Core. - Research
Participation
- The RPC was created to assist IDDRC investigators, especially those studying human behavior, in recruiting research participants and performing behavioral assessments. Additionally, the RPC has recently expanded its services to include specialized computer programming applications and advanced statistical analysis consultation and support.
Visit the Research Participation Core web site. - Brain Imaging
- The Brain Imaging Core is central to the integration of behavioral
and biological research at the Waisman Center IDDRC. Intellectual and
developmental disabilities, whether resulting from environmental
factors or genetic factors, involve a pathological alteration of
brain structure and/or function. Examination of such alterations is
critical to our understanding of the causal pathways from
environmental or genetic processes to behavioral outcome and for the
development of preventive or ameliorative interventions.
Visit the Brain Imaging Core web site. - Rodent
Models
- The Rodent Models Core provides technical support for the generation
and characterization of transgenic and knockout strains of mice,
access to expensive behavioral equipment for mice and rats that can
be shared among several investigators, and expertise in the
behavioral phenotyping of mouse and rat models of MRDD and related
disorders of the CNS. In addition, the core is responsible for the
care, feeding, and record-keeping related to the use of mice and
rats by IDDRC projects and the maintenance of specific rodent
models of development, developmental disabilities, and
neurodegenerative diseases.
Learn more about the Rodent Models Core. - Cellular
and Molecular Neuroscience
- This core responds to a growing demand for services and
specialized equipment needed to conduct studies at the cellular and
molecular levels on human and animal tissues. The services include
training in use of advanced techniques and equipment including
confocal and fluorescence imaging, stereology, FACS analysis, and
gene chip and real-time PCR quantitation of mRNA levels. In addition, the core has implemented an iPSC (induced Pluripotent Stem Cell) sub-core that contains all necessary equipment for the derivation, culture and storage of pluripotent stem cells.
Visit the Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience Core web site.
