Imaging/Microscopy
The cores below provide helpful resources for Imaging/Microscopy projects. They are located at Harvard Medical School, affiliated institutions, or other Harvard Schools. Two other resources relevant to imaging/microscopy projects at HMS are:
- HMS imaging cores website - https://microscopy.hms.harvard.edu
- Image Management Resources provided by HMS Research Computing - https://it.hms.harvard.edu/our-services/research-computing/services/res…
The Arthropod Cell Screening Facility (ACSF) develops, optimizes, implements, and distributes technologies useful for genome-wide cell screening in cultured cells from arthropods, including from the classical genetic model system Drosophila and non-model species such as mosquitos and ticks. Through our own work and support of other projects, we aim to have impact on health-relevant areas including mosquito- and tick-borne disease and food security. Our central technology is CRISPR-Cas9 knockout screening platforms. We have developed screening platforms for several species, each comprised of sets of engineered cell lines, plasmids, and sgRNA libraries. We provide access to these and other technologies through collaboration and technology dissemination. We also developed and maintain a suite of online tools for reagent design and data analysis, mining, and integration, with a particular focus on support for Drosophila, insect, and tick research applications. In addition, the ACSF provides access to legacy cell RNAi reagents originally created by the Drosophila RNAi Screening Center (DRSC).
Core Director - Stephanie Mohr
Core Website - https://acsf.hms.harvard.edu/
HMS imaging cores website: https://microscopy.hms.harvard.edu
The goal of the HMS Connectomics Core is to help researchers acquire, align, segment, proofread, and annotate large-scale maps of cell-cell interactions using volumetric electron microscopy (EM), genetically encoded cell-type-specific EM tags, trans-synaptic viral tracing, machine learning algorithms, and advanced statistical methods. Currently, we assist groups with analysis of existing large-scale electron microscopy datasets. This involves deployment of infrastructure, computer workstations, and software resources for connectomic data analysis.
Core Directors - Rachel Wilson and Wei-Chung Allen Lee
Core Website - https://connectomics.hms.harvard.edu/
The EM facility at Harvard Medical School is a fee-for-service core facility for transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The aim of the facility is to make the electron microscopes and relevant techniques such as sample preparation, sectioning and immunogold labeling easily accessible to all researchers.
Core Director - Maria Ericsson
Core Website - http://electron-microscopy.hms.harvard.edu/
CITE (formerly the NIC) is a core light microscopy facility offering a wide range of light microscopes, including laser scanning confocal, spinning disk confocal, TIRF, super-resolution, FRAP/photoactivation, light sheet microscopy and more. All researchers are trained to use the equipment; no prior imaging experience is necessary. CITE also offers an extensive educational program, including hands-on workshops for theoretical and practical training on light microscopy techniques.
Core Director - Jennifer Waters
Core Website - http://nic.med.harvard.edu/
HMS imaging cores website: https://microscopy.hms.harvard.edu
The Harvard Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center for Structural Biology is a joint effort by Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital to provide state-of-the-art cryo-EM instrumentation and expertise for the Harvard structural biology community. This user facility offers consultation and training by staff in specimen preparation, microscope operation, image acquisition, and data analysis. The facility houses two Mark IV Vitrobots for sample preparation and two Titan Krios electron microscopes with BioQuantum energy filters and a Talos Arctica electron microscope, all equipped with Gatan K3 direct electron detectors and Volta phase plates.
Contact email:cryoem@crystal.harvard.edu
Website: https://cryoem.hms.harvard.edu/
The HMS Center for Immune Imaging provides the infrastructure and expertise for intravital imaging of cells and microbes in diverse tissues in living mice at single cell resolution. The center is divided into two facilities: the main Intravital Imaging Facility located in the Veritas Science Center, and the BL2+ Intravital Imaging Facility housed in the Seeley G. Mudd Building for imaging of infected mice.
Core Director: Uli von Andrian
Core Email: HCII@hms.harvard.edu
Core Website: https://immunology.hms.harvard.edu/resources/hms-immune-imaging
Image Analysis Collaboratory (IAC) specializes in the quantitative analysis of biomedical images—be that image restoration, object detection, segmentation, co-localization analysis, tracking, classification, or related matters. We apply and develop methods in classical bioimage analysis, deep learning, and spatial statistics—in-house or with the help of our friends and collaborators.
Core Website - https://iac.hms.harvard.edu/
Core Director - Simon F. Nørrelykke
The ICCB-Longwood Screening Facility assists investigators in conducting high-throughput screens of chemical and functional genomics libraries to identify new tools for biological research. The ICCB-Longwood compound collection is continuously growing. Over 500,000 compounds are currently available for screening, including > ~15,000 'known bioactive' compounds, many of which have been characterized in animal models or in the clinic. Multiple human and mouse whole-genome siRNA libraries, as well as miRNA mimic and inhibitor libraries, are available for RNAi screening. Arrayed, synthetic single-guide RNA libraries targeting the human draggable genome are available for CRISPR knock out screening. Laboratory automation equipment is also available for use by the community for non-screening projects. The facility employs a staff-assisted screening model.
Core Director - Jennifer Smith
Core Assistant Director - Patricia Szajner
Core Website - http://iccb.med.harvard.edu/
The MicRoN (Microscopy Resources on the North Quad) offers dedicated expertise in imaging and experimental design in light microscopy as well as technical support and basic maintenance of our microscopes. It primarily serves Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics departments but it is open to other Quad Departments. Our core includes widefield, TIRF, single point scanning and spinning disk confocal, multiphoton and SIM-TIRF microscopes.
Core Director - Paula Montero-Llopis
Core Website - https://micron.hms.harvard.edu/
HMS imaging cores website: https://microscopy.hms.harvard.edu
The Molecular Electron Microscopy Suite (MEMS) at Harvard Medical School is a user resource currently available to all researchers in the HMS community. This core facility offers training and supervision in negative-stain and cryo-transmission electron microscopy. Equipment includes three transmission electron microscopes, two cryo plungers, and negative stain and cryo sample preparation areas. The Tecnai F20 is equipped with a Gatan K2 Summit direct electron detector.
Contact email: cryoem@crystal.harvard.edu
Website: https://cryoem.hms.harvard.edu/
The facility offers a wide-range of optical imaging equipment, technical and analytical support as well as full service imaging, tissue clearing and In Situ. The imaging equipment includes whole slide scanning, live cell imaging, confocal, lightsheet and super-resolution (STORM & STED) as well as basic brightfield and widefield microscopes. The facility also offers array tomography, a newly developed imaging technique that offers multiplex, ultra-high resolution volumetric imaging with depth-independent immunofluorescent staining.
Core Director - Michelle Ocana
Core Website - https://nif.hms.harvard.edu/
Services Website - https://ppms.us/hms-neuroimaging/
Array Tomorgraphy Website - https://nif.hms.harvard.edu/services/array-tomography-core
HMS imaging cores website: https://microscopy.hms.harvard.edu
