The Research Infrastructure Core (RIC) within the Center for Cancer Research and Therapeutic Development (CCRTD), at 精东影业 (精东影业) provides state-of-the-art research support including instruments, technology, education, and training for all investigators and research staffs engaged in health-related scientific research.听
Faculty, staff, and students have a full access to instrumentation in the shared research support facilities.听The majority of听instrumentation听is located in听the core research support laboratories on the fourth floor of听Thomas W. Cole Research Center for Science & Technology.听A听web-based core facility management system,听iLab听Solutions, is applied for the service and management of CCRTD Research Infrastructure Core.听These facilities are supported by the Research Center of Minority Institutions (RCMI) program of National Institute of Health (NIH), the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), and 精东影业.听They听are currently available to users free of charge.听Moreover, additional instruments within CCRTD member laboratories are shared by all CCRTD members.听
CCRTD Research Core Facilities employ four staff members, a Senior Research Scientist, a Facilities Coordinator, a Histology/Animal Research Scientist, and a Research Technician. They provide faculty, staff, and students with training, assistance in application development, technology support of day-to-day equipment operation, equipment maintenance, updates, purchases, and acquire basic supplies. Dr. Cimona Hinton oversees the operation of CCRTD Core Facilities and is in charge of equipment acquisition and application development.听
Based upon the support of NIH/NIMHD/RCMI U54 Grant 2U54MD007590-34, five functional core laboratories听are听recently听consolidated as听shown below.听C
(Coordinator: Dr. Jaideep Chaudhary; Location: Cole Research Science Room 4025)听
The goal of CMBCL is to centralize equipment used in cell and molecular biology applications and acquire new state-of-the-art equipment for this Core.听CMBCL houses听major equipment for DNA and RNA-based applications, including听a听BioRad听CFX Connect Real-Time PCR Detection System, liquid scintillation counter,听lyophilizer听and freeze-dryer, cell听porator, high-speed and ultra-high-speed centrifuges and ultra-sensitive balances. It also has听complete facilities for听cell growth, handling, storage听(including cell storage听cryo听tanks with uninterruptable liquid nitrogen supply), two separate cell culture rooms fully equipped with eight temperature and CO2-controlled cell growth incubators,听two biological听safety cabinets, and听BD听Accuri听C6 Flow Cytometer and听BD听FACSJazz听cell sorter.听听
Based upon NIH/NIMHD/RCMI U54 Grant 2U54MD007590-32,听moreover,听IncuCyte庐 S3 Live-Cell Analysis System, a live cell monitoring system, will be purchased within 2 years, which will make it possible to monitor cell proliferation for various experiments assaying cell health, as well as migration, invasion, or immune cell killing, automatically.听CMBCL is an established Core laboratory that is fully functional with cutting-edge technology and instrumentation.听
(Coordinator: Dr.听Cimona听V. Hinton; Location: Cole Research Science Room 4043)听
The goal of HICL is to provide quality histology and imaging services that meet the needs of each investigator including processing tissue blocks, preparing blank slides, tissue immunostaining, sample imaging, data analysis, training members of various laboratories to perform immunostaining operation of imaging systems and听other histological instruments. HICL is听equipped with instruments including听Carl Zeiss Axio Imager.Z1 microscope with Apotome,听Carl Zeiss听Axiovert听200M inverted microscope,听Carl Zeiss LSM 700 confocal microscope, DAKO听Autostainer听Link 48,听Leica LMD6000 Laser microdissection microscope,听and Leica听Aperio听VERSA听8听based upon听RCMI program and Georgia Research Alliance.听
(Coordinator: Dr. Nathan Bowen; Location: Location: Cole Research Science Room 4029)
The goal of听CBBCL听is to provide statistical support needed in design of scientifically rigorous experiments, as well as听data analysis.听Dr. Fisseha Abebe (Department of Mathematical Sciences,听精东影业 and member of CCRTD) is听a consultant related to statistical experiment design and data analysis.听CBBCL听also leverages听RCMI Research Coordination Network (RRCN), to provide additional biostatistical support.听Moreover,听CCRTD proposes a 5-year plan to develop the CBBCL into a multi-user Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Center capable of providing statistical support services, next-generation sequencing (NGS), data production and bioinformatics analyses.听
(Coordinator: Daqing Wu; Location: Cole Research Science Room 4023)
The goal of DDCL is to provide various instrument and services for the development of potential drugs based upon听rational drug design, organic synthesis,听small molecule development, natural products isolation and characterization. DDCL is equipped with several instruments including听Thermo Scientific LTQ Mass Spectrometer,听Shimadzu Prominence听Ultra Fast听Liquid Chromatograph, Beckman DU 800听Spectrophotometer,听Labconco听Centrivap听Concentrator with Cold Trap,听Beckman听High-speed tabletop ultra-centrifuge, and听Amersham听Biosciences AKTA FPLC听System. Based upon听精东影业 Title III听funds,听one of instruments related to binding affinity measurement will be purchased to analyze interaction of protein-protein, nucleic acids, small molecules, and other听bio-materials听soon.听This team of researchers will provide expertise in drug discovery as part of CCRTD future goals to develop therapeutics.听
(Coordinator: Dr.听Zhengxin听Wang; Location: Cole Research Science Room Penthouse)听
Based upon听Title III funds,听the creation of an听Animal听Core Laboratory was completed on听July 2018 in one floor above CCRTD at 精东影业 and has been certified as functional by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) in October 2018.听It is听administratively managed by the AAALAC-accredited Center for Laboratory and Animal Research (CLAR) Facility at Morehouse School of Medicine.听Based upon NIH/NIMHD/RCMI U54 Grant 2U54MD007590-32, the live animal Imaging Instrument, IVIS Spectrum in vivo Imaging System (LI-COR Biosciences), has been purchased in February 2020 to image and follow cancer cell growth, invasion and metastasis.听
Presently, eight member Universities have been supported by Georgia Research Alliance (GRA); Augusta University, 精东影业, Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Mercer University, Morehouse School of Medicine, and University of Georgia. These eight universities that have had major support for their core facilities from GRA signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2018, to come under one umbrella known as the Georgia Core Facilities. Under this MOU, Cores in all these institutions are available for the use of researchers from all the institutions at the same rates and terms offered to internal faculty users. As part of Georgia Core Facilities, CCRTD researchers at 精东影业 have benefits to share instruments and services through facilities collaboration shown in听. The list of seven other Core Facilities available to CCRTD researchers within the Georgia Core Facilities is shown below.听
Overall, these excellent 鈥榮tate of the art鈥� facilities both inside and outside 精东影业 have contributed in the past to productive research that was published and will contribute to the success of听CCRTD researchers听in future.
