Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Leica Microsystems Establish Center of Excellence in Microscopy
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Leica Microsystems, Inc. have combined efforts to establish the Leica Microsystems Center of Excellence at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The new Center will support a mission to drive new discoveries and insights from scientific research performed using state-of-the-art imaging systems. A virtual ceremony took place today to mark the occasion.
The Center of Excellence features cutting-edge confocal and widefield microscopy technology such as Leica SP8 STED nanoscopy imaging, allowing researchers to capture images and video of the cellular and molecular processes of life.
“The new partnership between Mount Sinai’s Microscopy and Advanced Bioimaging Core and Leica will ensure that we can meet the growing demand for novel microscopy-based instruments and strategies,” says Deanna Benson, PhD, Director of the Microscope and Advanced Bioimaging Core and Leica Microsystems Center of Excellence in Microscopy at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Our partnership will also allow a free exchange of information between Leica’s application scientists and Mount Sinai’s Core facility scientists crucial for developing novel imaging strategies customized to address the wide-ranging research questions--from mechanisms of viral infection and cancer progression to cognition, stress and pain--posed by our research community.“
“With this agreement, we’re enabling researchers at Icahn School of Medicine to push beyond boundaries of what can be visualized and quantified and fulfilling Leica Microsystems’ mission to provide unrivaled insight for our customers,” said Greg Eppink, General Manager, Microscopy, Leica Microsystems Americas. “We look forward to continuing this exciting alliance for years to come – it’s an honor to serve the future of scientific research in collaboration with this top-tier institution.”
“At Leica Microsystems we are actively seeking to collaborate with leading research institutions. Icahn School of Medicine scientists are world-renowned and their dedication to advancing our understanding of the mechanisms of life is truly inspiring,” said Douglas Giszczynski, Director of Academic Programs, Leica Microsystems Americas. “We at Leica Microsystems are proud that they have chosen us as collaborators on this road to discovery.”
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 will be followed by virtual seminars on September 23 and 24, presented by prominent Mount Sinai researchers discussing imaging applications. Socially-distanced hands-on and virtual demonstrations of the imaging systems will be available to researchers following the seminars.
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 Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
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