Cores, Facilities and Shared Resources

The Biobanking and Biomarker Validation Core within the Kansas Institute for Precision Medicine COBRE provides research teams with: centralized and uniform collection, processing and storage of tissue and body fluids and tissue-related histology services; integral and comprehensive protein and nucleic acid isolation, quantitation and molecular characterization services; fully customizable molecular testing and genomic-based sequencing services.

The Kansas Institute for Precision Medicine COBRE's Biomedical Engineering Core offers robotic isolation of liquid biopsy biomarkers from blood including circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cell free DNA (cfDNA) and extracellular vesicles. The core's purification platform delivers high purity markers in a fast turnaround time.

The Biospecimen Repository supports translational research through ethical collection, storage, annotation and distribution of high-quality biospecimens as well as histopathology support that combines the expertise of pathologists, translational researchersnd technical personnel to produce a comprehensive and focused approach to support the research activities at the University of Kansas Cancer Center.

The Cell Isolation Core, within the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, provides isolated hepatocytes for researchers at KU Medical Center and the University of Kansas. Hepatocytes can be used for a variety of studies that include drug metabolism, toxicology, enzyme activity assays and treatment of metabolic disease by cell transplantation. The core also offers technical support and experimental design and works closely with the Liver Cetner and The University of Kansas Hospital. 

Supported by the Kansas Center for Metabolism and Obesity Research COBRE, the Cells, Tissues, Bioanalysis and Bioinformatics Core aims to simplify and centralize processes for researchers studying obesity, metabolism and obesity-related disease conditions. The core provides a repository of obesity/metabolism cells tissues and biomaterials, analytical assay services in support of metabolic projects and biostatistics and bioinformatics services for metabolic and obesity projects.

The Neuropathology Core of the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center collects, characterizes, stores and distributes brain tissue from Clinical Core autopsy participants, consisting of well-characterized individuals with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders and aged control individuals without neurological disease. This highly annotated brain tissue is provided to committed researchers to support the highest quality research in Alzheimer's, brain aging and related disorders. 

Researchers affiliated with the Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute have access to state-of-the-art flow cytometry and related technologies. The Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory's services include flow cytometric analysis of single-cell suspensions; cell separation using FACS or magnetic beads; cell morphology and spheroid analysis; and experimental design, sample preparation and data analysis services. 

The Biobanking and Biomarker Validation Core within the Kansas Institute for Precision Medicine COBRE provides research teams with: centralized and uniform collection, processing and storage of tissue and body fluids and tissue-related histology services; integral and comprehensive protein and nucleic acid isolation, quantitation and molecular characterization services; fully customizable molecular testing and genomic-based sequencing services.

Created through a NIH Center for Biomedical Research Excellence infrastructural grant, the facility serves investigators from KU Medical Center, University of Kansas, Kansas Regents institutions, Frontiers CTSI members and member institutions of BioNexus KC. It performs next-generation sequencing (NGS) to support single-cell transcriptomic and epigenomic services, single-cell DNA services, whole genome sequencing (WGS), global transcriptomics, methylation sequencing, nucleic acid isolation and quality control services. 

The Biobanking and Biomarker Validation Core within the Kansas Institute for Precision Medicine COBRE provides research teams with: centralized and uniform collection, processing and storage of tissue and body fluids and tissue-related histology services; integral and comprehensive protein and nucleic acid isolation, quantitation and molecular characterization services; fully customizable molecular testing and genomic-based sequencing services.

The Biospecimen Repository supports translational research through ethical collection, storage, annotation and distribution of high-quality biospecimens as well as histopathology support that combines the expertise of pathologists, translational researchersnd technical personnel to produce a comprehensive and focused approach to support the research activities at the University of Kansas Cancer Center.

The Histology Services facility within the Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (KIDDRC) houses sample preparation areas, including a fume hood and equipment for sample preparation for light and electron microscopy. A histology specialist supervises the facility, maintaining all equipment and training investigators and personnel to use the equipment. The laboratory is fully equipped for paraffin histology, including automated processing, embedding, sectioning and staining. Facilities also are available for the embedding and sectioning of frozen specimens. For viewing sectioned material, the laboratory is equipped with dissecting and light microscopes. 

The Neuropathology Core of the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center collects, characterizes, stores and distributes brain tissue from Clinical Core autopsy participants, consisting of well-characterized individuals with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders and aged control individuals without neurological disease. This highly annotated brain tissue is provided to committed researchers to support the highest quality research in Alzheimer's, brain aging and related disorders. 

The KU Alzheimer's Disease Research Center's clinical research core maintains a registry of 5,000+ adults interested in research; 400 individuals (AD, mild cognitive impairment, non-demented) with annual, longitudinal cognitive data, biospecimens (blood, DNA, brain tissue) brain imaging (MRI, Amyloid PET scans); and participant recruitment support, including minority recruitment.

The KU Alzheimer's Disease Research Center's Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Core connects the public, health care professionals, trainees and investigators to facilitate brain health and aging research.

Located on the medical center's Fairway campus, the KU Clinical Research Center provides space, staff and resources to support medical scientists and volunteers participating in clinical trials.

Many investigators lack exposure, education and training in how to conduct research with vs. on patients and communities and therefore default to ineffective engagement. To mitigate this barrier, investigators must expand their collaboration and include individuals, organizations and community-embedded facilitators who have established prerequisite trust. The Implementation Science for Equity COBRE’s Community Engagement and Outreach Core aims to offer comprehensive services and training opportunities tailored to the specific needs of each project and community population. 

The Implementation Science for Equity COBRE’s Ethics Core increases institutional and regional capacity to conduct high-quality implementation research and streamline regulatory compliance and approval for such projects. Services include one-on-one consultations wtih investigators about conditions that create inequities, factors that sustain inequities, potential solutions and ways to avoid mistakes of the past.

The Pragmatic Implementation Science Methods Core within the Implementation Science for Equity COBRE provides investigators coordinated, interdisciplinary support critical to success in this complex field. The core’s team science approach increases the likelihood of successful execution of research projects and better prepares project leads to work in the collaborative research environment that is critical to implementation science. 

KU Clinical and Translational Science Units offer essential services and support for investigators and study teams to successfully conduct clinical research. Dedicated staff assist with special procedures, infuse investigational drugs, support complex timed procedures and protocols, and record all research data in source documents. CTSU resources include clinical space, experienced research personnel, specialized laboratories such as pulmonary, exercise physiology, and sample processing. Satellite labs and investigational pharmacies are co-located with CTSUs.

The Human Energy and Balance Core is an integral part of the Kansas Center for Metabolism and Obesity Research COBRE. The core integrates facilities, equipment and services to support investigators who wish to perform human subject-based research and training on the prevention and treatment of obesity. Services include energy expenditure assessments; assessments of energy, macronutrient and micronutrient intake; and support for evidence-based weight management interventions.

Within the Hoglund Biomedical Imaging Center, the human MRI core offers structural and functional MRI and connectivity; cognitive paradigms; noninvasive and quantitative measurement of chemicals, brain and other organs; 1H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS); tissue composition, lesion volume, blood flow, diffusion/perfusion; blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability.

The Implementation Science for Equity COBRE’s Ethics Core increases institutional and regional capacity to conduct high-quality implementation research and streamline regulatory compliance and approval for such projects. Services include one-on-one consultations wtih investigators about conditions that create inequities, factors that sustain inequities, potential solutions and ways to avoid mistakes of the past.

The Nutrition Shared Resource provides critical support for basic, clinical and population studies evaluating the effects of nutrition on cancer therapies, survivorship and prevention. This shared resource expertise is essential for accurate nutrition research studies and adds significant value to trials focused on diminishing the burden of cancer through diet and lifestyle approaches. 

The Pragmatic Implementation Science Methods Core within the Implementation Science for Equity COBRE provides investigators coordinated, interdisciplinary support critical to success in this complex field. The core’s team science approach increases the likelihood of successful execution of research projects and better prepares project leads to work in the collaborative research environment that is critical to implementation science. 

The Bioinformatics Core within the Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center provides a variety of services in bioinformatics and computational biology, such as: sequencing analysis, Affymetrix microarray analysis, biological functional and pathway analysis and literature survey, miRNA target prediction and transcription factor binding site prediction.

An academic department in the School of Medicine, the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science offers expertise in linear, nonlinear and longitudinal modeling, clinical trial and experimental design, survival analysis, categorical data analysis, robust statistics, psychometric methods, Bayesian methodology and statistical genomics. The department provides an array of collaborative services to support the research community, backed up by best-in-class hardware, software and technological infrastructure, with a focus on enhancing the research, service and educational programs across the medical center.

The Quantitative Omics Core, supported by the Kansas Institute for Precision Medicine COBRE, assists affilated investigators with study design, data management and visualization, bioinformatics, high-peformance computing and state-of-the-art bioinformatics software. The core's expert team has experience in the analysis and interpretation of high-throughput ‘omic studies, including studies of gene expression (microarray and RNA-seq), pathway analysis, protein-DNA binding (e.g. ChIP-seq), DNA methylation, DNA variation and integrative multi-‘omic analysis.

Research Informatics helps researchers turn data into knowledge. The informatics team enables research by providing intuitive tools for discovering and delivering data to researchers, helping them to capture data from studies, empowering them to perform research using electronic medical records and connecting them to data at other institutions. Research Informatics provides support across the entire research lifecycle, from planning and grant development to research dissemination and data archiving.

The Lead Development and Optimization shared resource provides access to target identification and validation, screening compounds, preclinical candidate development, drug delivery and preclinical proof-of-concept studies. Services are available to researchers affiliated with The University of Kansas Cancer Center, as well as other cancer centers and industry partners. 

The Electron Microscopy Research Laboratory supports biomedical research at KU Medical Center and in the surrounding region through state-of-the-art services. Researchers have access to standard electron microscopy to generate raw EM images, as well as a newly renovated facility that can support a complete cryo-EM workflow, including a sample preparation room equipped with a Vitrobot Mark IV plunge freezer, a Glacios Cryo-Electron Microscope equipped with Falcon 4i and Selectris for grid screening and data collection, and a data analysis suite utilizing CryoSPARC­TM data processing software configured to a server-based data analysis computing cluster.  

Based within the Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, the Integrative Imaging Core includes a Confocal Imaging Facility, Confocal Microscopy, and Electron Microscopy Research Laboratory. The core’s expert staff and convenient, reliable access to state-of-the-art equipment support cutting-edge research by investigators at KU Medical Center and other area institutions. Services include: image acquisition ,including light, fluorescence, and multiple confocal microscopy platforms; image analysis and processing, including confocal images, stereology and morphometry; image output, including 2D and 3D graphic services of scientific images.

The Microscopy and Analytical Imaging Research Resource Core Laboratory is committed to supporting and advancing research across the University of Kansas and the region by providing academic, government and industry users and their collaborators the technological resources, staff expertise and a diverse/ inclusive/collaborative environment required to assure accurate acquisition, analysis and dissemination of data. 

The Analytical Core provides access to the advanced instrumentation needed to examine toxicants, endogenous metabolites, biotherapeutic compounds and the products of their metabolic breakdown. Services include analytical imaging and gel/blot, liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry and quantitative PCR (qPCR or real-time-PCR).

The Clinical Pharmacology Shared Resource, offered in conjunction with The University of Kansas Cancer Center, provides critical scientific and technical support for the development and performance of clinical trials and dissemination of the trial results. This support is essential for early-phase clinical trials, including first-in-human studies and adds significant value to clinical trials focused on new applications and new combinations of current therapeutics. The guidance and support from the CPSR ensure clinical trials are comprehensive, driving the development and advancement of therapeutic and preventative approaches for cancer.

The Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Core Facility is a collaborative core offering high-quality services with state-of-the-art instrumentation to advance human health research.  The facility offers high-end mass spectrometers and sample preparation tools to support the various research interests at KU Medical Center. Facility staff work with researchers to customize mass spectrometry designs to fit individual needs.  

The Medicinal Chemistry Lab is a shared resource available to The University of Kansas Cancer Center members as well as external academic investigators and industry partners to establish collaborations. Services include research and development focused on the identification of preclinical candidates through synthesis chemistry, chemical biology and emerging small-molecule therapeutic modalities.

Based within the Hoglund Biomedical Imaging Center, the core carries out Magnetic Resonance Imaging studies with a 9.4 Tesla Bruker Avance Neo 31cm horizontal bore MRI scanner equipped with a narrow band proton transmit channel, a broadband X-nucleus transmit channel, 4 receive channels, multiple radio frequency coil resonators, RF interface adapters for custom made RF-coils and sample positioning beds of various sizes for day-to-day operations. The scanner is equipped for: 2D and/or 3D high resolution anatomical imaging; diffusion and diffusion tensor imaging; flow imaging; cardiac imaging; dynamic contrast imaging; functional MRI; chemical shift imaging; and localized spectroscopy.

The Cardiovascular Core, based in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, offers fee-based services to all scientific community members in academia, industry and beyond. The core’s primary goal is to collect physiological data for cardiovascular organs in support of biomedical research. The facility strives to provide unique, state-of-the-art technology for muscle functionality, cardiac function, surgical services and related investigative medicine. 

Disease Model and Assessment services are provided under the umbrella of the Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (KIDDRC). Services include behavior testing, research-based surgical services, metabolic phenotyping and a wide array of immunoassay offerings, as well as access, training and support of molecular and physiological equipment located in core suites.  

The Laboratory Animal Resources department is a quality animal care and use program known for its animal welfare-oriented environment, talent management, research environment flexibility and operational efficiency. The University of Kansas Medical Center is fully accredited by the Association for the Assessment of Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International, which requires adherence to the highest standards of animal care and use by accredited institutions. The accreditation, which is entirely voluntary, has been continuous since 1996. In addition, the medical center is registered as a research facility with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and holds a Category I Assurance with the Public Health Service (through the NIH's Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare). 

The Metabolism Core, established through the Kansas Center for Metabolic and Obesity Research (KC-MORE) COBRE, offers expertise, methodologies and equipment for the study of metabolism from the cell to the whole body. The core contains state-of-the-art equipment to study metabolism in pre-clinical models and assess mitochondrial energetics and stable isotope measures. In addition to state-of-the-art equipment, the core supports the design, implementation and interpretation of data from metabolic projects. 

The Biomarkers and Biomaterials Core within the Kansas PKD Research and Translation Core Center supports the discovery, validation and development of biomarkers for early stages of PKD. The core maintains a repository of biospecimens from individuals with early-stage ADPKD as well as siblings and normal individuals. It also offers a comprehensive assortment of high-quality biomaterials. This core has been critical in providing human biomaterials to the PKD research community and serves as an important resource for the national PKD Research Resource Consortium. 

The PKD Rodent Model and Drug-Testing Core within the Kansas PKD Research and Translation Core Center serves investigators at KU Medical Center and other institutions and is an essential resource for the national PKD Research Resource Consortium. The Core maintains and distributes several key mouse lines to accelerate our understanding of PKD and other renal cystic disorders. It also provides expertise and experimental support in handling PKD mouse models for drug testing and in processing and analyzing specimens.

Serving investigators at KU Medical Center and in the surrounding research community, the Transgenic and Gene Targeting Facility uses cutting-edge technologies — including CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing — to support transgenic and gene-targeting research endeavors and to promote technolgy development. 

The Office of Communications provides a variety of design-related services for medical center researchers, including illustrations and graphics to accompany research publications or presentations. Creative Services staff also advise researchers on questions related to logos and branding.

The Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center offers large format printing services for researchers who need to produce posters or other displays to communicate their work. Services are available to members of the KU Medical Center community and external clients.