CORE FACILITIES
- Yerkes Functional Brain Imaging Center
 One of the major development in neuroscience research at Emory over the past years is the opening of a new state-of-the-art brain imaging Core Facility in the Neuroscience research building at the Yerkes Primate Center. This facility houses two magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) labs (a 4.7T/40cm Bruker system and a 3T/90cm human-size scanner Siemens system), a microPET lab, an optical/speckle imaging lab, a cyclotron, large radiochemistry labs, as well as wet lab and animal prep rooms. It also has a MRI mechanical and electronic workshop and a comprehensive assortment of MRI-compatible physiological monitoring equipment. Furthermore, it is equipped with state-of-the-art computation resource with its own server, 3 terabytes diskspaces, three linux workstations, and one dozen PC¹s, a networked printer and a copier. All offices, cubicles and laboratories are networked with switched 10/100 Mb/s TCP/IP communication lines. These resources, governed by a committee of primary users, are dedicated to research and assessable to all faculty members of Emory University. This outstanding facility represents a keystone for the development and growth of faculty research programs focused towards various aspects of behavioral and cognitive neurosciences. Dr. Timothy Duong, one of the neuroscience training faculty listed on this grant, is the director of the center.
- Advanced Imaging Research (AIR) Center
This core facility, directed by Dr. Xiaoping Hu (Training Faculty NS Program), provides the organization and infrastructure for two operational units: The Emory Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Unit and the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Research Unit. The PET Unit, located in the Emory University Hospital (immediately adjacent to the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry laboratories), houses two high resolution PET scanners, a cyclotron and laboratories for radioligand development and image analysis. The PET Unit has over 60 ongoing research protocols involving a wide variety of radiotracers for examining brain metabolism, neurotransmitter systems and functional organization by activation studies. The MRI Unit, also housed in the Emory University Hosptial, includes two Phillips 1.5 Tesla scanners capable of single shot echo-planar imaging. The scanners are available for functional MRI studies of brain organization, high resolution anatomic imaging and diffusion weighted imaging. This facility combined with the new brain imaging core recently opened at the Yerkes Primate Center provide outstanding resources members of the neuroscience program for brain imaging studies in animals and humans.
- The Electron Microscopy Core Facility
Directed by Dr. Hong Yi of the Department of Neurology. It provides expertise, service and training in transmission EM and EM immunocytochemistry. There are also hands-on workshops that enable investigators to learn techniques, such as immunogold labeling of specimens.
- The Microarray Core Facility
Directed by Dr. Yu Hau Li is located at the Yerkes Primate Center and provides all services necessary for functional genomics technology including production, use and analysis of cDNA microarrays. Various services are provided including 1) probe preparation, 2) microarray production and hybridization, 3) image and bioinformatics analysis, 4) cDNA library construction and 5) DNA sequencing.
- The Yerkes Endocrine Core Facility
Directed by Dr. Mark Wilson, provides immunoassay determinations of steroid and protein hormones or other biologically active compounds in biological fluids. The laboratory currently provides determinations of over sixty compounds validated for nonhuman primates and humans. Services are provided to all Emory scientists for research purposes.
- The Cellular Core Facility
Directed by Dr. Allan Levey, is located on the 5th floor of the Whitehead building. It provides services and resources for the preparation of viral vectors. It is primarily available to scientists in the Center for Behavioral Neurosciences and Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases.
- The Transgenic Mouse Core Facility
Directed by Dr. David Martin, is located in the Dental School building. This facility contains state-of-the-art equipment for the generation of transgenic animals and the production of animals containing targeted gene disruption and replacements in their genomes. It is available to all Emory scientists.
- The Microchemical Facility
Directed by Dr. Jan Pohl, is designed to provide Emory scientists with access to modem molecular biological techniques and materials requiring instruments too costly for individual laboratories to purchase and operate. It contains seven major instrument systems including a DNA synthesizer, peptide synthesizer, protein sequencer with on-line PTH analyzer, amino acid analyzer, HF peptide cleavage apparatus and semi-preparative and microbore HPLC. The facility is capable of high sensitivity (femtomole level) protein and peptide mapping, including microbore and/or capillary liquid chromatography units, capillary electrophoresis, (Edman-type) protein microsequencing, and triple quadrupole mass spectometry.
- The Winship Cancer Center's Flow Cytometry Facility
Directed by Dr. Edmund Waller, provides cell sorting and analysis for faculty and trainees. Flow cytometry equipment is also located in the laboratory of Dr. John Altman in the Rollins Research Center as an extension of this facility. The FACS Caliber is equipped with argon-ion and diode lasers, with detectors for two scatter parameters and four fluorescent channels; it is also equipped with an autoloader for ease of processing large numbers of samples. Sorting will be provided on a FACS Star that has been upgraded for acquisition of three fluorescence parameters, and will be equipped with containment facilities, appropriate for sorting of infectious materials. Both instruments will be controlled by CeliQuest software (Becton Dickinson), running on Macintosh Power PC computers.
- The Confocal Microscopy Facility
Also located in the Rollins Research Center under the direction of Dr. Amy Sears, provides high resolution, digital confocal images of cells. Examples of applications include localization and co-localization of neural proteins, identification of subcellular compartments, assays of localization of cellular proteins after different stimuli (e.g. capping of cell surface proteins when cells are activated).
- The Integrated Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility
directed by Dr. Robert Apkarian, is located in the Dept Chemistry. It offers state-of-the art equipment for transmission and scanning electron microscopy. It also provides unique capabilities such as high-pressure freezing used by training neuroscience faculty for high-resolution electron microscopy immunogold studies.
- The DNA Sequencing Facility
Supported and subsidized by the Emory School of Medicine and is equipped with three Applied Biosystems model 377 automated DNA sequencing machines. This facility provides services to more than 350 investigators representing more than 125 individual labs at Emory, and is also equipped with two high quality PE Applied Biosystems PCR machines including one 3600 and the latest 3700 models. The facility also has a SUN work station that provides linkage analysis and DNA assembly in a rapid fashion, as well as an Inherit sequencing analysis system that can be used for robotic, genetic, and linkage analysis.
- The Rodent Behavioral Core Facility
Directed by Drs. David Weinshenker and Gary Miller (Training Faculty NS program) is a newly established facility shared by the Dept Human Genetics and the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases. The animal facility in the Whitehead research building has dedicated 1000 sq. ft of space for this core. A full-time behavioral technician has been hired to help training individuals interested in running some experiments. It is equipped with modern behavioral testing equipment such as rotorod, morris water maze, elevated plus maze, radial arm maze, fear conditioning/footshock chamber, motorized rodent treadmill etcŠ.
- The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Core Facility
Located in the Dept of Anesthesiology on the 4th floor of the Health Science Library building. This core, directed by Dr. Marie Csete (Training Faculty NS Program), provides high quality undifferentiated stem cells to labs at cost for their own purposes (differentiation, etcŠ). It also provides RNA and proteins from human embryonic stem cells at different stages of differentiation.
- The Hybridoma core Facility
Directed by Dr. Allan Levey is located on the 5th floor of the Whitehead building and provides assistance in making and purifying monoclonal antibodies.
- The Tissue Bank Core
Directed by Dr. Allan Levey is located on the 5th floor of the Whitehead building. It is a tissue repository from patients to use for research purposes.
Laboratory photos courtesy of
Criss Hartzell - www.crisshartzell.org
Data photos courtesy of individual
Emory Neuroscience researchers
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