Flow Cytometry Core

National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The Vaccine Research Center Flow Cytometry Core provides is a service facility providing support for the basic research and clinical program of the VRC. The Core maintains nine 48-parameter spectral analyzers and five 30-parameter cell sorters, of which are located in a BSL-2/3 facility. The core performs routine Quality Assurance and Quality Control for all instruments, ensuring consistent, robust performance. The Core also provides direct support to over 200 researchers at the VRC at multiple levels: designing flow cytometric experiments and panel development, implementing the experiments and collection of data, and the analysis of the data using multidimensional tools. In some cases, the core provides support by running the complex cell sorting samples for the users on the instruments. The Core is responsible for interactions with the instrument manufacturer to schedule all routine and unexpected maintenance and service requests to maintain the highest level of quality assurence. The Core provides routine and advanced training to all VRC researchers for instrument operations and data analysis as well as standard operations procedures. Finally, the Flow Cytometry Core was instrumental in the support of the COVID pandemic by providing technical and analytical strategies in advanced instrumentation. The FCC core continues to support this effort as well as vaccine development and research on current or emerging infectious diseases.