The Initiative in Systems Pharmacology participates in the support of several research core facilities at Harvard Medical School that provide instrumentation and services relevant for systems pharmacology projects:
ICCB-Longwood Screening Facility (ICCB-L) provides resources and expertise for high throughput screening (HTS) of small molecule and genome-scale RNAi libraries. ICCB-L also provides general laboratory automation support for the HMS community.
Image and Data Analysis Core (IDAC) provides advice and computing infrastructure for routine microscope image and data analysis, and provides computing as well as intellectual infrastructure for the development of new, customized image and data processing methods. Dr. Gaudenz Danuser (HMS Department of Cell Biology) is the faculty advisor for this new core. To learn more about IDAC, please contact Dr. Tiao Xie (tiao_xie”at”hms.harvard.edu).
Systems Biology Microscopy Facility (SBMF) is a core facility for light microscopy developed in partnership with Nikon Instruments Inc. and Micro Video Instruments Inc. The SBMF maintains laser scanning confocals, spinning disk confocals, a total internal fluorescence system, and other basic fluorescence and transmitted light microscopes. All users are offered training to use the equipment; no prior imaging experience is necessary.
Systems Biology FACS Facility – The Systems Biology FACS facility houses two state-of-the-art BD analyzers with high-throughput capability, a high-speed BD cell sorter with an automatic plate deposition unit, and both Mac and PC workstations for data analysis. Sorting services are offered through the facility, as well as instrument and software training. Instruments include a BD FACSCalibur (488nm/635nm; 4-color), BD SORP LSRII with HTS (405nm/488nm/594nm; 12-color), and a BD FACSAria IIu (405nm/488nm/633nm; 9-color). Data analysis software available at the facility includes ModFit, FlowJo, Diva 6.1.2, and CellQuestPro.
HMS Microfluidics Facility - The HMS Microfluidics Facility aims to make the tools of microfabrication and microfluidics available to all HMS users. Microfluidics has the potential to do for biology what microprocessors have done for computational sciences by integrating complex chemical and biological processes into one chip, facilitating the study of complex biological systems.