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Institutional Research Cores Have Record Accomplishments in FY2024

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Dr. Elizabeth Fitzpatrick in the lab
Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, Phd, an associate professor, is shown in the lab.

Fiscal year 2024 saw landmark achievements by UT Health Science Center’s core laboratories. Core activities led to 698 unique PubMed-indexed publications and supported 300 extramural grants and contracts.

UT Health Science Center’s core laboratories are essential to research endeavors, serving as hubs of innovation, expertise and advanced technology. These subsidized facilities, shared across various departments, offer researchers access to state-of-the-art equipment and specialized services that would otherwise be financially out of reach for individual labs.

Managed by the Office of Research, the nine core facilities are located on the Memphis campus. They include the the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, the Molecular Resource Center, the Molecular Bioinformatics Core, the Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Core, the Proteomics and Metabolomics Core, the Research Histology Core, the Medicinal Chemistry Core, the Laboratory Animal Care Unit, and the Advanced Imaging Core. These core labs serve investigators across all UT Health Science Center campuses, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Regional One Health, the University of Memphis, and extend their expertise to national and international partners.

These core labs are not just about providing resources; they are catalysts for collaboration and innovation. By supporting high-impact research, they play a pivotal role in attracting and retaining top-tier investigators. The core facilities are instrumental in grant submissions, offering preliminary data, refining research methodologies, and enhancing the competitiveness of funding applications. Their contributions have significantly increased both the volume and quality of publications, further cementing the university’s status as a leader in scientific inquiry and discovery.

Other noteworthy accomplishments include:

  • The Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Core was awarded an NIH shared instrumentation grant to acquire the cutting-edge Cytek Aurora CS.
  • The Molecular Resource Center expanded its capabilities with the AVITI Element Sequencing System and Pip-Seq scRNA sequencing.
  • The Lab Animal Care Unit, and the entire UT Health Science Center animal care program, was successfully reviewed by the AAALAC International for its exemplary standards in humane animal care and research and awarded continued full accreditation.
  • The Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, led by Colleen Jonsson, PhD, secured a prestigious seven-year National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) contract, opening avenues for groundbreaking research in infectious diseases.
  • The Medicinal Chemistry Core broke records with its revenue and co-authored three significant publications.
  • The Molecular Bioinformatics Core achieved a milestone by processing 817 analysis requests and contributing to three publications.
  • The Proteomics and Metabolomics Core handled an unprecedented volume of requests, serving both internal and external clients.

“These accomplishments underscore the indispensable role of our core labs in driving the research engine of our health science center, ensuring its continued success and global influence,” said Jessica Snowden, MD, vice chancellor for research.