Resources

A full-service, all-species diagnostic laboratory that offers support to the college and university research community. Discipline specialists include anatomic pathologists, clinical pathologists, histotechnologists, microbiologists, virologists, immunologists, toxicologists, chemists, microscopists, parasitologists, and serologists.

An eighty-acre farm on South Race Street, two miles from the college, with extensive facilities for research and instruction involving agricultural animals.

Located on the college campus, the Veterinary Teaching Hospital provides a source of naturally occurring animal disease for clinical trials and extensive medical records for retrospective studies. The annual caseload exceeds 20,000 animals. The hospital is accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association. There is a full-service pharmacy on-site. The clinical faculty represents a wide range of specialty expertise, including diagnostic imaging, microsurgery, and anesthesiology.

This microscope is available for use by all campus research groups. More information about the microscope is available from Dr. Wenyan Mei.

• Collect images in 5 channels simultaneously (4 fluorescent +DIC) at high sensitivity
• Record high-speed events in three dimensions through the resonant scanner to generate 4-dimensional xyz-time data sets in live tissues and cells over very long periods of time
• Gather large, 3D images of entire tissue sections that can exceed 100 microns in depth while maintaining the resolution to view small, subcellular processes
• Use photo-activation, FRAP, and other photostimulation techniques to manipulate samples simultaneously with image acquisition, to study complex processes like mRNA trafficking, protein diffusion or microbe invasion

The scanning system of this A1R confocal microscope is coupled to a Nikon Ti-E motorized inverted microscope. The Nikon Ti-E motorized inverted microscope includes:

• Multiple objectives (10x Plan Apo, 20x Plan Apo VC DIC, 40x plan fluor 40×1.3 oil, 60x plan apo λ/1.40 oil, 100x plan apo λ / 1.45 oil)
• Perfect Focus System
• Stage-top incubator
• Fast Piezo z-focusing stage
• Motorized, encoded stage
• Anti-vibration table

The scanning system includes:

• 4 channel detectors (diode laser 405 nm, 488 nm, 561 nm, 640 nm) for simultaneous acquisition of 4 fluorescent channels
• 2 high-sensitivity GaAsp detectors, 2 high quantum efficiency PMTs with sensitivity up to 850 nm, and a transmitted light detector
• A1R confocal scan head with both resonant and galvanometric scanners.  The galvano scanner can acquire images up to 4096 x 4096 pixels with a zoom of up to 1000x. The resonant scanner allows performing high-speed imaging at 30 frames per second at resolution 512 x 512 pixels, and up to 420 frames per second at a reduced field of view (512 x 32 pixels)
• Motorized detector for transmitted DIC

The A1R confocal microscope is fully controlled by an upgraded module of the NIS-Elements C software, which is capable of performing high level data analysis.

Some features of this high-content software are:

• Automatic collection and analysis of large numbers of images across an entire slide or from each well of a multiwell plate. This dramatically reduces the heavy workload traditionally required to generate large sample size data and high-quality, unbiased data analysis
• XY navigation and Z navigation during image acquisition without switching between the eyepieces and the computer
• Multipoint imaging at multiple XY and Z points

A separate work station loaded with the NIS-Elements C software is available for confocal data analysis and image editing.

Located in the Veterinary Medicine Basic Sciences Building and the Small Animal Clinic, shared equipment rooms house common-use research instrumentation. A list of available equipment can be obtained from the Office of Research and Advanced Studies or on the college’s intranet site: https://vetmed.illinois.edu/intranet-research/

For histology services, please see:

• Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
• Histology Laboratory

Support for proposal development (e.g., budget preparation, budget justification, electronic submission process, and tracking grant deadlines) and contract services (e.g., non-disclosure agreements and material transfer agreements). Go to the Grants and Contracts intranet page.

Funds awarded annually—typically from the Animal Health and Disease program, the Hatch program, and the Companion Animal Memorial Fund—through a competitive process of proposals reviewed by faculty members serving on the college’s Research Advisory Committee. Go to the Research intranet page.

A graphic services center located within the college that offers 3D modeling and animation from data sets; biomedical illustration; graphic, public and web design; online course design; and more.

A departmental unit of the Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, located in the Veterinary Medicine Basic Sciences Building. The collection supports instruction, research, and general reference needs. Resources are largely made available online through the Bioinformation Virtual Libraries.

The Office of Research and Advanced Studies serves a variety of functions:

• Serves as a resource to faculty and student researchers in the college;
• Administers the joint DVM/PhD Veterinary Medical Scholars Program;
• Administers the Summer Research Training Program for veterinary students;
• Oversees the college’s shared research equipment program;
• Administers the college’s internal research grants program;
• Organizes the annual Research Day program.