Core Leader: Yuji Ikeno, MD, PhD
Core Co-leader: Gene Hubbard, DVM, MS

To determine the impact of an experimental intervention on aging, it is essential that an investigator have knowledge of how the intervention alters the pathological lesions that occur with age. Age-related pathology increases exponentially with advancing age and is largely responsible for age-related morbidity as well as mortality. Pathological information provides investigators with insight into the potential biological/molecular mechanisms of the intervention under study.  Also, the pathological assessment of old animals is necessary to help investigators determine whether the changes in physiological/biochemical parameters measured are associated with or are independent of underlying pathological conditions.

CORE SERVICES:

• Conduct comprehensive end-of-life and cross-sectional pathological analyses of established and new rodent models and other species in the aging colonies maintained by the Aging Animal and Longevity Assessment Core.
• Conduct quantitative morphometric analyses of the tissues/organs of transgenic rodents and their control littermates examined by 3D and 2D image analyses.
  
• Develop a comprehensive database of histopathologic findings as a resource for trend analyses by bioinformatics personnel, providing basic pathological information to new investigations and develop a tissue archive by collecting and storing tissue samples to provide a resource for the analysis of samples by special request and for new morphological research. 

In addition, the Pathology Core offers assistance to faculty and students who are interested in conducting basic biological animal research in aging with the pathological analyses needed for grant applications and manuscript preparation.

FEES:
Services are partially underwritten by the NIA Nathan Shock Center.  Contact the Core Leader or  Core Co-leader for details concerning your area of study.