Light Microscopy at the Innovation Core: About Us

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Leica Microsystems Center of Excellence at the University of California, San Francisco

Leica Microsystems and the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences Innovation Core have partnered to provide researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area with access to cutting-edge instrumentation and expertise to advance their research. Established in 2021, this non-exclusive collaboration is founded on a shared commitment to directly connect evolving research needs with technological innovations in microscopy.

This partnership provides UCSF researchers with access to advanced imaging technologies, expert training, and ongoing technical support. It also creates opportunities for early engagement with new systems while ensuring reliable performance to support efficient, long-term research.

For Leica Microsystems, the partnership provides a visible platform within the UCSF and broader Bay Area microscopy communities to showcase and test emerging technologies and product prototypes. It elevates Leica as a pioneer in innovation, directly integrating researcher feedback into the development of next-generation technologies.

Explore the Learn & Share Knowledge Portal from Leica Microsystems

Learn & Share is your gateway to scientific research and educational resources focused on microscopy. Designed to support beginners, experienced practitioners, and scientists in their daily work and experiments, you are invited to explore interactive tutorials and application notes and discover both the fundamentals of microscopy and advanced technologies.

Visit the Learn & Share portal

 

About the UCSF Weill Innovation Core

The UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences Innovation Core was established to provide researchers with convenient and reliable access to advanced imaging systems that are often beyond the reach of individual labs. The core offers fully automated high-performance confocal, widefield, high-content, super-resolution and light sheet microscopes, as well as workstations equipped with both open-source and commercial image analysis tools. A 100TB server is directly connected to instruments and workstations via fiber optic lines to enable fast data transfer and secure storage.

The Innovation Core provides personalized consultation on experimental design, image acquisition, and analysis, followed by one-on-one training and ongoing technical support. Centrally located within the Weill Institute for Neurosciences on UCSF’s Mission Bay campus, the Core has become a vital resource for the UCSF neuroscience and broader research communities—supporting over 50 labs and contributing to numerous publications and preprints.