The Animal Behavior core provides a state-of-the-art facility equipped to function as a time-efficient and cost-effective service for researchers in need of mouse and rat behavioral analysis. Located within the Animal Care Vivarium, the core offers a full battery of assays relevant to learning and memory, social behavior, sensory gating, motor function, as well as anxiety and depression. In collaboration with the Animal Care Committee and Veterinary Services, the Behavioral core can provide research teams with assistance in design, execution, analysis, presentation, and interpretation of data resulting from the use of Core services.

The Bioinformatics Core provides advice on bioinformatics research design, conducts bioinformatics analysis, provides data warehousing services, and provides support for grant proposals that involve bioinformatics (including conducting pilot studies, support/collaboration letters, methodological text, etc.)

The Cell Biology and Image Acquisition (CBIA) Core Facility provides state-of-the- art advanced microscopes, image analysis tools, and technical support to facilitate your microscopy research. The CBIA offers consultations to determine the most appropriate microscope for specific research needs and the proper design of your experimental set-up. Subsequently, CBIA provides comprehensive training and follow-up sessions for all users, ensuring correct and optimal use and understanding of the imaging systems. In addition, CBIA offers support for post-acquisition analysis using the broad range of 2D to 4D Image analysis software packages that are available on our high-performance computers.

The Containment Level 2+ facility offers a safe, secure, and dedicated laboratory space for research on infectious agents of Risk Group 2 and some Risk Group 3 pathogens under certain conditions. Rigorous standard operating procedures allow for optimal safety of laboratory personnel, the community, and the environment. Divided into three suites, the facility can accommodate several occupants simultaneously. The facility provides all basic laboratory infrastructure for cell-based assays and is available to both uOttawa and external research groups.

The Common Equipment and Technical Services core facility comprises a team of six Research Technicians who are committed to providing quality technical assistance to Faculty members and research personnel. CETS staff maintain a wide array of both basic and technologically advanced shared infrastructure in a state of operational readiness and peak performance, with training and research technical assistance available upon request.  The CETS on-call service provides out-of-hours response to equipment alarms and rescue space for failed freezer contents.  The CETS also provides glass washing and autoclave services (sterilization and decontamination). This optimization of infrastructure and technical resources benefits laboratories across the Faculty of Medicine.

The FCV Core Facility offers its members access to cutting edge instruments for flow cytometry analysis and cell sorting. We support the research community in Ottawa and surrounding regions with training, fee-per-service, and consultations with an expertise in small particle analysis – the analysis and sorting of submicron size particles (down to 100nm in diameter) such as viruses, extracellular vesicles, organelles and much more!

StemCore Laboratories is a high-throughput genomics facility within the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and is a core facility of the University of Ottawa. StemCore Laboratories is developing a world-class infrastructure for genomics and can facilitate large-scale scientific research and biotechnology projects. StemCore Laboratories seeks out projects that are challenging, cutting-edge, extend the boundaries of biological knowledge, and will positively impact the state of human health. We work closely with the OHRI Bioinformatics Core to provide full end-to-end genomics services. Available services include DNA Sequencing, Next Generation Sequencing (library preparation for multiple applications), Single Cell and Spatial Analysis, experimental design, statistical calculations, proof of concept studies, grant-writing support, assay development, and manuscript preparation.

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) can differentiate into all the cells of the embryo proper and adult organism. PSCs include embryonic stem cells (ESCs) as well as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are created by reprogramming mature adult cells (such as skin cells) into PSCs. These stem cells offer unique opportunities to dissect early human development, generate models of disease, and develop cellular or drug therapeutics that target a disease or target specific patients with a disease (i.e., personalized medicine). Thus, iPSCs are important tools in Regenerative/Translational/Personalized Medicine. The hPSC core facility performs fee for service and training for all aspects of human PSC projects including reprogramming patient cells to iPSC lines, cell line characterization, differentiation to specific cell types, and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in PSCs to create isogenic models of disease or unravel gene function.

The Department of Pathology’s LP-HCF is a full-service histology laboratory available to faculty, researchers, clinicians and students within and outside the University of Ottawa. The facility provides efficient, high quality and cost-effective histological services for animal, plant and human tissues. Services include paraffin processing and embedding, paraffin and frozen sectioning as well as routine and special histological staining, including immunohistochemistry. Samples can also be scanned to digital images ensuring preservation of data and facilitating automated analysis.

The Preclinical Imaging (PCI) Core Facility provides small animal imaging equipment (MRI, ultrasound, optical, laser doppler) and an X-ray irradiator for your research. This facility provides training for use of these machines, except the MRI. For the latter, a dedicated MRI physicist and MRI animal technician are available to help design and execute imaging protocols. PCIC also supports researchers managing and analyzing experimental data, including end to end services. The PCI Core Facility is in Roger Guindon Hall at the University of Ottawa, within the Animal Care and Veterinary Service.

This facility contains state-of-the-art infrastructure to study protein structures, including AKTA purification systems combined with size-exclusion columns, a calorimeter for the measurement of protein-ligand thermodynamics and spectrophotomers for the study of protein secondary structures in solution. This facility also includes a crystallization robot to carry out crystallization trials with high throughput capabilities.

The Proteomic Resource Centre has a complete series of state-of-the art mass spectrometers. They offer the research community a complete array of proteomic services from protein and post translational modification (PTM) identification to large scale quantitative proteomics. The PRC has continued to develop specific processing protocols and can analyse the metaproteome from isolates. In particular, the PRC has developed specialized metaproteomic databases for protein identification and quantitation from microbiota. The PRC has also developed new software for metaproteomics called MetaLab and iMetaLab (imetalab.ca). The tools have been accessed over 3000 times and are now installed in labs around the world including the USA, Europe, Egypt, Australia and China.

Metabolomics, the latest addition to the ‘omics’ family, allows global profiling of the metabolites of cells, tissues or biofluids. It allows the comprehensive exploration of metabolite patterns, revealing distinct metabolic signatures in health vs. disease. Metabolomics holds tremendous potential for precision medicine through the development of better biomarkers, robust predictors of drug response and disease outcome, discovery of new metabolites and pathways typical of disease pathogenesis and progression, and finally, targeted drug development. uOttawa’s new Metabolomics Core Facility is built around a suite of cutting-edge equipment, including GC/MS, UHPLC-QTOF, and UHPLC-QQQ mass spectrometers. The integration of these technologies permits a global understanding of the metabolic state of cells and tissues. Indeed, there are numerous metabolic adaptations in disease systems, and they are best studied using a systems approach. This requires mass spectrometry analysis for identification of specific metabolites throughout the metabolic network as well as metabolite tracing. These targeted metabolomics approaches are complemented with discovery metabolomics to reveal novel metabolites that are differentially regulated in health and disease. Importantly, the uOttawa Metabolomics Core Facility is part of the Metabolomics Innovation Resource of the Goodman Cancer Research Centre, the University of Ottawa and the Van Andel Research Institute (MIRGOV), which serves the broader research community by ensuring that these facilities work synergistically to meet the growing demand for metabolomics services across North America.

The TEM core facility provides broad access to TEM technology to characterize, with unprecedented resolution (nanometer range), cellular and subcellular features of cells and tissues. These applications are of particular interest to research teams in neuroplasticity, renal, neurodegenerative, neuromuscular, infectious, and metabolic diseases, where TEM can be used to view structures at a molecular resolution in their native cellular context (e.g. mitochondria, microtubules, sarcomeres, micro-vasculature, synapses and vesicle organization, host-pathogen interactions, bacteriophages, viruses lipid droplets, membrane integrity, etc.) The Facility houses the JEOL JEM-1400Flash system, coupled to a 4K Gatan OneView CMOS digital camera, which delivers unprecedented high-quality and high-resolution, with cryo capability for future hardware improvements and even greater resolution.

The Genome Editing and Molecular biology (GEM) Facility offers cutting-edge and custom genome editing services to the research community at uOttawa and beyond.  Services range from full-service custom cell line modification, DNA design and cloning, viral production, bioreagent development, and picking services from our human cDNA and CRISPR/Cas9 guide libraries. Custom projects to support your research involving cellular or molecular biology are always welcome.