Texas Children's Research Institute Core Facilities
Texas Children’s boasts an array of cores that offer our researchers advanced technical expertise and leading-edge equipment to facilitate their research.
Texas Children’s Research Institute cores:
Pathogen Resource Core and Biosafety Level 3 Facility
Facilitates work with pathogens that may require specialized handling by providing a core space to perform containment work, enabling fee-for-service projects, and administering training programs.
Research Tissue Support Services (RTSS)
Provides essential services for meeting approved research protocols, including biorepository management, biochemical and cell biology procedures, dry ice, LN2, and CO2 support, rent-a-bench facilities, consultation services, and IATA-certified biological material shipping.
Small Animal Imaging Facility (SAIF)
The SAIF is a 7,530-square-foot facility with a well-equipped procedure suite for preparing animals for imaging, including ample volatile anesthetic delivery systems. The core provides MRI, PET-SPECT-CT, optical, ultrasound, and radiation services.
Flow Cytometry Core
Supported by the Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center, provides scientific and technical expertise in developing, optimizing, and troubleshooting of complex flow cytometric assays for diverse biomedical research projects.
Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute cores:
Bioinformatics Core
Offers computational expertise for genomic, metabolomic, and proteomic research.
High Throughput Behavioral Screening Core
Performs small molecule and genetic screening services on a variety of well-validated Drosophila (fruit fly) models of human neurological diseases.
Human Stem Cell and Neuronal Differentiation Core
Provides expertise and equipment necessary to generate and experimentally manipulate human pluripotent stem cells and their differentiated progeny.
In Vivo Neurophysiology Core
Performs and offers training in rodent neurophysiological assays.
Microscopy Core
Offers expertise and access to the state-of-the-art fluorescence, confocal, two-photon and multi-photon laser-scanning microscopes.
NMR and Drug Metabolism Core
Offers sophisticated NMR spectrophotometers and other tools to support the discovery, synthesis, screening, optimization, metabolism, and pharmacokinetics of small molecule ligands or lead compounds.
Neuropathology Core
Performs histological and immunohistochemical assays to facilitate neuropathological analyses of human and animal model tissues.
Optogenetics and Viral Vectors Core
Provides access to technologies and reagents to perform neurotropic viral expression, optogenetic manipulation, and in vivo electrophysiological stimulation/recordings.
RNA In Situ Hybridization Core
Performs non-radioactive high-throughput RNA in situ hybridization assays on tissue sections and provides access to whole-slide scanners.
Rodent Neurobehavior Core
Provides sophisticated behavioral analyses of rodent models.
Advanced Robotics for Human Neural Engineered Systems & Studies (HARNESS Core)
A forthcoming core that will use an autonomous robotic platform for culturing and analyzing human disease models derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
Texas Children’s researchers also have full access to the shared facilities at the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center and Baylor College of Medicine’s Advanced Technology Core Labs.