University of Minnesota Foundation

Legacy

Fall 2018
Issues/Contents
Gallery

Big answers on a micro scale

The University Imaging Centers provides an up-close look at everything from blood vessels to brain pathways

By Nicole Endres
Share

What do diseased blood vessels look like—at a molecular level? Where do different pathways in the brain connect? How does a tumor grow? And then regress after treatment?

“We have roughly 600 users, and each person is unique in their question,” says Mark Sanders, Ph.D., who directs the University Imaging Centers (UIC).

The UIC’s clients represent 280 University labs, 51 centers and departments, and seven colleges, plus a few local companies. The center’s staff members work closely with users to choose the right technologies from its 40-piece collection to find the sought-after answers.

And the center could provide even more knowledge with philanthropic support.

“We have tools that can have a direct impact on a number of really important human condition issues,” Sanders says. “Nothing answers a question like seeing it.”

View more images from the University Imaging Centers.

Previous Next
A 7-micron-thick sample of human breast tissue from a breast cancer study, imaged by fluorescence with panoramic view from a Nikon TiE deconvolution microscope at 200x.
IMAGES COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY IMAGING CENTERS
Neurons deep within a mouse brain from a study on addiction, imaged by a Nikon A1R confocal microscopeat 225x.
IMAGES COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY IMAGING CENTERS
Silver-stained sagittal 200-micrometer-thick section of a rodent brain, imaged by a Nikon 80i microscope at 200x.
IMAGES COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY IMAGING CENTERS
Cells from the immortal HeLa cell line, derived from cervical cancer cells, labeled with fluorescent probes, imaged by fluorescence at 1000x.
IMAGES COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY IMAGING CENTERS
Human skin sample, imaged by autofluorescence and second harmonic nonlinear imaging at 250x.
IMAGES COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY IMAGING CENTERS

Next

Synopsis

Transplant transport

For each heart transplant surgery, getting a donor heart to the operating room in the best possible condition is a finely rehearsed relay race.