Animal Resources
The cores listed below are located at Harvard Medical School, affiliated institutions, or other Harvard Schools.
The Rodent Histopathology Core was established in 1999 and is a Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center facility based at HMS. Services that the Core provides include technical, professional, and educational services on non-human, primarily rodent tissues. The Core offers necropsy, tissue processing, slide preparation from paraffin-embedded and frozen tissues, routine and specialized histological staining. The Core’s Veterinary Pathologist is available for expert interpretation of slides and one-on-one consultation.
The ultimate goal of the Core is to support investigator research that leads to the identification of pathologic processes in non-human models that can be directly translatable to human disease.
Core Faculty Director - Peter Howley
Core Manager - Li Zhang
Core Administrator - Lauri Wyner
Core Website - http://www.dfhcc.harvard.edu/research/core-facilities/rodent-histopathology/
Before February 1, 2021 this core was called the HMS Transgenic Mouse Core.
The DF/HCC Mouse Engineering Core (MEC) has all of the equipment necessary for generation of transgenic mice including a Nikon Diaphot microscope equipped with Nomarski Optics and Narishige micromanipulators for microinjections, Nikon surgical microscopes for egg isolation ad transfer, a sutter needle puller and a de Fonbbrune microforge. The facility maintains mice necessary for egg donors, egg recipients, and vasectomized males. This is a non-profit facility and charges are based upon anticipated mouse costs, maintenance of mice and equipment, purchase of necessary surgical supplies and chemicals, and personnel costs.
ES cell culture services have been offered for more than 15 years. Our staff carries out electroporation of targeting vectors into ES cells and provides investigators with DNA to identify ES cells carrying the desired recombination events. Staff then expand the appropriate ES cells for microinjection into blastocysts by the DF/HCC MEC.
In recent years, the core has expanded its list of services to include CRISPR injections and cryopreservation.
Core Director- Lina Du
Core Administrator - Lauri Wyner
Core Website - Mouse Engineering Core
Contact - mouseengineeringcore@gmail.com
The Gnotobiotic Core Facility (GCF) is a fee-for-service core established in 2022 in a newly renovated cutting-edge space located on the longwood campus. We provide the flexibility to allow investigators to train on gnotobiotic techniques, or our highly trained staff can perform studies for our users. We offer our services to members of the HMS community as well as to external users.
Core Director - Sungwhan Oh
Core Website - https://immunology.hms.harvard.edu/resources/gnotobiotic-core/gnotobiotic-core
The Mouse Behavior Core (MBC) is a mouse behavioral testing facility jointly supported by Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Boston Children's Hospital. The MBC offers a wide range of mouse behavioral equipment and assays to test a range of motor, cognitive, and affective behaviors. Trained users have access to eight behavioral testing rooms and a procedure room. The MBC staff offers consultation, training, and guidance in execution and interpretation of assays.
Core Director - Barbara Caldarone
Core Website - https://behavior.hms.harvard.edu/
