Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute and Leica Microsystems Establish Center of Excellence in Microscopy

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Sep 03, 2019, 06:00 ET

HOUSTON, Sept. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) at Texas Children's Hospital and Leica Microsystems, Inc. combined efforts to establish the Leica Microsystems Center of Excellence at the NRI. The new Center will support a mission to drive new discoveries and insights from scientific research performed using the imaging systems.

A signing ceremony will take place on Sept. 9, 2019, in the second-floor Charif Souki Atrium, with NRI Director, Dr. Huda Zoghbi, and Greg Eppink, General Manager of Microscopy at Leica Microsystems Americas. The Center of Excellence features cutting-edge confocal microscopy technology from Leica, including STED and confocal super-resolution microscopy systems to capture dynamic processes at the molecular level.

"Having the Center at the NRI will advance our efforts to understand how changes in brain cells drive behavior, and will allow us to help train colleagues within the Texas Medical Center and beyond," Zoghbi said of the establishment of the Leica Microsystems Center of Excellence at the NRI.

"Collaborating with a world-class organization like the NRI to enable them to push the limits of what is seen is truly exciting for Leica and we look forward to working with them today and for many years into the future," Eppink said. "Leica Microsystems' mission is to provide unrivaled insight for our customers by pushing the limits of what was previously possible and visible. The NRI is a great ally which will truly allow Leica to live up to our mission."

"Leica Microsystems is proud to collaborate with the exceptional researchers at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital," said Douglas Giszczynski, Director of Academic Programs at Leica Microsystems Americas. "This globally-recognized research institute, with its award-winning researchers, is advancing humankinds' understanding of neurological disorders. If we can help advance this research in some small way then our resources have been well allocated."

The Center of Excellence will provide valuable feedback necessary to drive innovation in software, systems and workflow solutions while informing the applications and advanced imaging and analysis techniques of tomorrow. This supports the Leica Microsystems leitmotif of "with the user, for the user," established by Ernst Leitz I, the entrepreneur who led the business to world renown. For 170 years, Leica Microsystems has helped shape the future and continues to do so today with its latest digital innovations enabling new insights for research, medical and industrial applications.

The opening ceremony for the Center of Excellence will begin at 5 p.m. in the Souki Atrium followed by a brief reception featuring refreshments with the opportunity to discuss research opportunities at the Center.

Hands-on demonstrations of the imaging systems will be available to researchers at the NRI, Texas Children's and Baylor College of Medicine for the remainder of that week. The Center of Excellence will be located in the NRI Microscopy Core.

About Leica Microsystems

Leica Microsystems develops and manufactures microscopes and scientific instruments for the analysis of microstructures and nanostructures. Widely recognized for optical precision and innovative technology, the company is one of the market leaders in compound and stereo microscopy, digital microscopy, confocal laser scanning and super-resolution microscopy with related imaging systems, electron microscopy sample preparation, and surgical microscopy.

Leica Microsystems has six major plants and product development sites located in Wetzlar and Mannheim (Germany), Vienna (Austria), Heerbrugg (Switzerland), Morrisville (USA), and Singapore. The company is represented in over 100 countries, has sales and service organizations in 20 countries, and an international network of distribution partners. Its headquarters are located in Wetzlar, Germany. Leica Microsystems is part of Danaher.

About The Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute

The Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital (NRI) opened in December 2010. Dedicated to improving the lives of patients facing devastating neurological disorders, the NRI is a basic research institute committed to understanding the pathogenesis of neurological diseases with the ultimate goal of developing treatments.

In the past two decades, investigators made great strides in understanding the molecular defects underlying neurological diseases. Collaboration and leadership in genetics and neuroscience allowed faculty at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's to discover the underlying causes of dozens of neurological disorders. The NRI's mission is to reduce the temporal and conceptual gap between initial gene discovery and clinical applications by providing the context, core services and community to support multi-institutional collaborations between physicians, scientists and patients. Learn more at nri.texaschildrens.org.

SOURCE Leica Microsystems