Division of Laboratory Animal Resources (DLAR), a support unit for animal-based research, provides the best possible veterinary and humane care for the laboratory animal species used by University of Kentucky researchers. Highly skilled and dedicated staff technicians and technologists are certified by the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science. These registered and licensed veterinary health technicians monitor the wellbeing of research animals daily and provide care and treatment when needed under the direction of the veterinary staff. In addition to the animal care program, DLAR offers technical services, complete surgical resources, pathology, breeding colony management and species-specific training.

Located in the Healthy Kentucky Research Building, the Light Microscopy Core offers state-of-the-art imaging equipment for research on biological systems, ranging from neuroscience to physiology, and cutting-edge materials science. The core offers training to UK researchers on the following equipment: 

• Nikon AR1+ Confocal Microscope
• Zeiss PALM Laser Microcapture Microscope
• Nikon N-SIM/N-STORM Super Resolution Microscope 
• Leica TSP SP5 Confocal Microscope with Environmental Chamber
• Zeiss 880 NLO Upright Confocal Microscope with Airyscan and Airyscan Fast
• JPK Nanowizard Atomic Force-Nikon A1 Confocal Microscope Hybrid
• Zeiss Axioscan Z1 Automated Slide Scanner
• X-Clarity Tissue Clearing System

Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Center (MRISC) is a service and consultation center supporting basic and clinical research at UK. The center includes:

• An advanced 3T Siemens Magnetom Trio scanner with high-performance gradients.
• Echo-planar whole-body imaging and hydrogen spectroscopic capabilities for both human and animal studies.
• A Bruker/Siemens 7T MR scanner for animal studies with adjacent facilities for animal handling, preparation and care.
• Computing facilities.
• Electronic and fabrication shops.
• A multi-user laboratory available to support magnetic resonance and spectroscopy studies. 

Scientific and technical personnel are available to help develop MR sequences and procedures and with image-processing analysis.

The Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Obesity and Cardiovascular Diseases (COCVD) was established to identify mechanisms linking the epidemic of obesity to the high incidence of cardiovascular diseases. As a Phase III COBRE funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the center has assumed a broader scope by providing high-impact services that support cardiovascular, diabetes, cancer and neuroscience researchers to examine obesity as an underlying risk factor and to explore mechanistic underpinnings that link obesity to these diseases. The center draws on specialized expertise in pharmacology and nutritional sciences, internal medicine, physiology, biology and microbiology, immunology, maternal and fetal development, and more to provide a multidisciplinary center infrastructure that fosters leading-edge research and to develop promising early career faculty. Three scientific cores provide an array of services to COCVD investigators and others whose research interests intersect with the COCVD focus. They include the Energy Balance and Body Composition Core, the Pathology Core and the Analytical Core.