DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The mission of the Center for Photogenomics is to develop revolutionary technologies that enable the direct visualization and functional profiling of human regulatory regions at the resolution of individual chromatin templates in intact cells, and to leverage the extraordinary cell selectivity and information content of regulatory DNA to pioneer novel biological and translational applications. The Center will specifically (i) develop technology to simultaneously visualize and localize in highly multiplexed fashion, regulatory DNA regions on individual chromatin templates within the intact cell nucleus; (ii) develop technology for activity-based profiling of regulatory regions; (iii) pioneer structural, functional and integrative applications of photogenomics using super-resolution "nanoscopic" techniques; (iv) enable photogenomics through development of revolutionary instrumentation for high-throughput, high-speed super-resolution microscopy; and (v) lay the foundation for translation of photogenomic techniques to solving common problems in the modern clinical diagnostic laboratory by integrating with existing clinical workflows. This will ensure that photogenomics wil bring the power of genomic analysis to the understanding of cells within the context of their tissue environment. In keeping with the mission of the CEGS program of training and outreach, this Center proposal outlines a strong multi-disciplinary post- doctoral program that will create a new breed of genomics researcher with expertise in genomics as well as advanced imaging techniques and analysis. In addition, through innovative and interactive programs, the Center will expose non-genomics researchers and pre-doctoral students to this new field.

PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: New technologies that enable direct visualization and massively parallel interrogation of the human genome's core regulatory machinery will have transformative impacts on basic and applied genome research, enabling a host of new and clinically relevant applications.