The Rodent Histopathology Core has been approved and funded by the CCSG since the first consortium application in 2000. The Core provides high priority, quality access to services for Cancer Center members. While many commercial and academic histology services are available, no other facility is available that offers comparable quality with rapid turnaround and highly experienced professional supervision and investigator education. The Core provides the initial interpretation and understanding of an animal model and interprets this phenotype in the context of the genetic manipulation. Murine models of cancer have provided investigators with a unique opportunity to understand tumor cell biology in the setting of intricate and dynamic physiological systems. This includes the ability to not only investigate the role of specific oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes and signaling pathways in tumorigenesis, but, in contrast to in vitro systems, the interactions between the tumor and it's environment can be studied as well. Director: Peter Howley, MD, MMS(HMS) Category: 1.05 (Animal Health (Pathology/Histology)) Management: Joint (Cancer Center and Institutional) .