The Research Infrastructure Core (RIC) within the Center for Cancer Research and Therapeutic Development (CCRTD), at Clark Atlanta University (CAU) 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.
Faculty, staff, and students have a full access to instrumentation in the shared research support facilities. The majority of instrumentation is located in the core research support laboratories on the fourth floor of Thomas W. Cole Research Center for Science & Technology. A web-based core facility management system, iLab Solutions, is applied for the service and management of CCRTD Research Infrastructure Core. 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 CAU. They are currently available to users free of charge. Moreover, additional instruments within CCRTD member laboratories are shared by all CCRTD members.
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.
Based upon the support of NIH/NIMHD/RCMI U54 Grant 2U54MD007590-34, five functional core laboratories are recently consolidated as shown below. C
(Coordinator: Dr. Jaideep Chaudhary; Location: Cole Research Science Room 4025)
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. CMBCL houses major equipment for DNA and RNA-based applications, including a BioRad CFX Connect Real-Time PCR Detection System, liquid scintillation counter, lyophilizer and freeze-dryer, cell porator, high-speed and ultra-high-speed centrifuges and ultra-sensitive balances. It also has complete facilities for cell growth, handling, storage (including cell storage cryo tanks with uninterruptable liquid nitrogen supply), two separate cell culture rooms fully equipped with eight temperature and CO2-controlled cell growth incubators, two biological safety cabinets, and BD Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer and BD FACSJazz cell sorter.
Based upon NIH/NIMHD/RCMI U54 Grant 2U54MD007590-32, moreover, IncuCyte® 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. CMBCL is an established Core laboratory that is fully functional with cutting-edge technology and instrumentation.
(Coordinator: Dr. Cimona V. Hinton; Location: Cole Research Science Room 4043)
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 other histological instruments. HICL is equipped with instruments including Carl Zeiss Axio Imager.Z1 microscope with Apotome, Carl Zeiss Axiovert 200M inverted microscope, Carl Zeiss LSM 700 confocal microscope, DAKO Autostainer Link 48, Leica LMD6000 Laser microdissection microscope, and Leica Aperio VERSA 8 based upon RCMI program and Georgia Research Alliance.
(Coordinator: Dr. Nathan Bowen; Location: Location: Cole Research Science Room 4029)
The goal of CBBCL is to provide statistical support needed in design of scientifically rigorous experiments, as well as data analysis. Dr. Fisseha Abebe (Department of Mathematical Sciences, CAU and member of CCRTD) is a consultant related to statistical experiment design and data analysis. CBBCL also leverages RCMI Research Coordination Network (RRCN), to provide additional biostatistical support. Moreover, 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.
(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 rational drug design, organic synthesis, small molecule development, natural products isolation and characterization. DDCL is equipped with several instruments including Thermo Scientific LTQ Mass Spectrometer, Shimadzu Prominence Ultra Fast Liquid Chromatograph, Beckman DU 800 Spectrophotometer, Labconco Centrivap Concentrator with Cold Trap, Beckman High-speed tabletop ultra-centrifuge, and Amersham Biosciences AKTA FPLC System. Based upon CAU Title III funds, one of instruments related to binding affinity measurement will be purchased to analyze interaction of protein-protein, nucleic acids, small molecules, and other bio-materials soon. This team of researchers will provide expertise in drug discovery as part of CCRTD future goals to develop therapeutics.
(Coordinator: Dr. Zhengxin Wang; Location: Cole Research Science Room Penthouse)
Based upon Title III funds, the creation of an Animal Core Laboratory was completed on July 2018 in one floor above CCRTD at CAU and has been certified as functional by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) in October 2018. It is administratively managed by the AAALAC-accredited Center for Laboratory and Animal Research (CLAR) Facility at Morehouse School of Medicine. 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.
Presently, eight member Universities have been supported by Georgia Research Alliance (GRA); Augusta University, Clark Atlanta University, 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 CAU have benefits to share instruments and services through facilities collaboration shown in http://www.cores.emory.edu/georgia-partners/. The list of seven other Core Facilities available to CCRTD researchers within the Georgia Core Facilities is shown below.
Overall, these excellent ‘state of the art’ facilities both inside and outside Clark Atlanta University have contributed in the past to productive research that was published and will contribute to the success of CCRTD researchers in future.