Nikon Imaging Center Opens at UC San Diego

September 13, 2018

By Scott LaFee

A September 13, 2018, Nikon Imaging Center at UC San Diego ribbon-cutting was led by (left to right): James Hamlin, vice president of sales for Nikon Instruments Inc.; Bill McGinnis, outgoing dean of the Division of Biological Sciences, UC San Diego; David Brenner, vice chancellor for Health Sciences, UC San Diego; Samara Reck-Peterson, professor in the Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, UC San Diego; Eric Griffis, director of the Nikon Imaging Center at UC San Diego; Kit Pogliano, incoming dean of the Division of Biological Sciences, UC San Diego; and Stephen Ross, general manager of product and marketing for Nikon Instruments Inc.

The Nikon Imaging Center, a collaborative microscopy center that provides local researchers with access to the latest imaging technologies, opened September 13, 2018 at the University of California San Diego.

"UC San Diego’s partnership with Nikon is very exciting because it will enrich both the scientific research capabilities and educational activities on campus," said Samara Reck-Peterson, PhD, a professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and in the Division of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.

The UC San Diego site is only the third in North America, following similar Nikon facilities at Harvard Medical School and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Globally, there are Nikon Imaging Centers at Oxford University, England; Curie Institute, France; Heidelberg University, Germany; Singapore Bioimaging Consortium; and Hokkaido University, Japan.

Located in the Leichtag Family Foundation Biomedical Research Building on the School of Medicine campus at UC San Diego, the center will provide researchers with access to a wide array of latest generation microscopic tools and technologies, including point-scanning and field-scanning confocal, high-content, total internal reflection fluorescence and wide-field fluorescence microscopes.

“In addition to offering standard imaging techniques, the center has two microscopes that can image with what is called ‘super-resolution,’ which allows us to resolve structures with two to 10 times the precision that standard microscopes can achieve,” said Eric Griffis, PhD, the center’s director.

Eric Griffis (center), director of the Nikon Imaging Center at UC San Diego, led tours of the new facility during the center's September 13, 2018 opening.

Nikon’s collaboration with UC San Diego includes more than $2.5 million in equipment and access to the newest product releases. Nikon will also work with UC San Diego to develop and enhance education efforts in imaging.