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Infrastructure
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Analytical ultracentrifugation facility 
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The UCL Division of Biosciences Research Facility has two analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) instruments that make possible simultaneous velocity and equilibrium experiments so that protein associative behaviour in solution can be explored in detail. Their track record with the AUC enables them to claim that they are the most successful AUC laboratory in the London area, and are always interested in new AUC collaborations with colleagues. Contact: Jayesh Gor |
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Biacore surface plasmon resonance facility 
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The UCL Division of Biosciences Research Facility has a Biacore X-100 instrument which makes complementary measurements on a surface to those in solution from AUC. The extent to which different molecules interact with a single partner immobilized on a sensor surface reveals the specificity of an interaction, and information on dissociation constants is obtained. Apart from the need to immobilise the partner on a chip surface, the method is artifact-free and does not require the use of any labelling. Contact: Jayesh Gor |
| Biobank |
UCL-RFH Biobank housed at the Royal Free Hospital Contact: Dr Mark Lowdell
Contact: Dr. Adrienne Flanagan
Contact: HDBR Resource Manager London |
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Bioinformatics |
The Bloomsbury Centre
for Bioinformatics is a collaborative venture between UCL and Birkbeck
College, covering protein structure prediction and classification, genomic and
transcriptomic data analysis, statistical genetics and systems biology. The R.A. Fisher Centre of Computational Biology is an interdisciplinary centre of excellence for mathematical and computational analysis of the fast-growing data in genetics and biology. |
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Biostatistics 
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The Biostatistics Unit at the Eastman Dental Institute
provides training and support Statistical Support Service at the UCL Institute of Child Health/Great Ormond Street Hospital The UCL Partners Biostatistical Network is open to all statisticians working in medical research within UCL Partners. UGI outreach service for core support in bioinformatics and statistical genetics |
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The aim of the
UCL Chemibank is
to enable small molecule ligand discovery for UCL's research community. The
facility stores complete chemical libraries and compound collections in a
controlled environment. A range of chemoinformatic and biological assay services
is provided for early drug discovery projects and to further existing projects
in lead selection and library design. Contact: Dave Selwood |
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The aim of the UCL Centre for Chemical Biology is to be a dedicated facility for small molecule synthetic chemistry with the express purpose of developing small molecule probes in collaboration with biomedical scientists for use within academia. The four programmes currently being developed cover small molecule modulators of enzymes and proteins; development of 'labelled' probes to aid fundamental biological and clinical studies, including imaging; synthetic peptide and protein chemistry to aid fundamental biological and clinical studies; structure based design, modelling and molecular dynamic simulation. Contact: Professor Stephen Caddick, Director |
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The Research Computing community at UCL aims to facilitate a collegial and collaborative approach to
the provision, management and development of services and infrastructure for
capacity and capability High Performance Computing (HPC), and to exploit
interdisciplinary synergies across the wide spectrum of research excellence at
UCL. Information for users available at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/research-computing/information Contact: Clare Gryce, Manager, Research Computing Information Services Division. Telephone: +44 (0)20 7679 7394 (internal: 37394) Further contact information available at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/research-computing/information/contact |
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Confocal microscopy 
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(I) The UCL Centre for Cell and Molecular Dynamics, housed in the Division of Biosciences, consists of six confocal microscopes, including two 2-photon microscopes with incubation chambers for maintaining preparations for long time-lapse imaging. It also has an analysis room and workstations for 3D reconstruction and image analysis. Planned expansion of the centre will include FRAP, TIRF and FLIM microscopy. (III) The confocal microscopy Core Facility at the UCL Institute of Child Health provides state of the art instrumentation for imaging and data analysis. The
facility is equipped with two confocal microscopes: a Leica TCS SP2 (with
2-photon capability) and a new Zeiss LSM 710 (installed June 2009). The systems
allow a range of experiments with fixed or live samples and environmental
chambers (control of temperature and gases) are available on all systems making
it possible to perform experiments over long time courses. More specialised
imaging experiments including FRET and FRAP can also be performed on the
confocal microscopes. The facility has also a wide-field microscope fitted with
an incubation chamber for live imaging. We also provided support for image
analysis and experiment design. |
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The Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research’s Scientific Support services uses state of the art AB sequencing technology to provide high quality reads, fast. Result analysis and troubleshooting come as standard. Contact: Paul Stevens or Zoe Ward |
| Electron microscopy |
(I) The main UCL Biosciences EM Facility has a number of Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM), including a new field emission scanning microscope. The Facility also contains a sample preparation laboratory, with a range of preparation equipment. It runs as a multi user facility or on a service basis, which allows users the choice as to what level of involvement they wish to have. The list of equipment, techniques and capabilities, costs and charges are available at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/biosciences/research-facilities/em Contact: Mark Turmaine or Katie Bax (II) The Electron Microscope Unit at the Institute of Neurology offers comprehensive facilities for specimen preparation and use of Transmission and Scanning Electron Microscopes. A full technical service is provided for non-EM users from Departments within UCL and from outside. Contact: Kerrie Venner |
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The UCL zebrafish facility comprises four separate multi-rack systems and several standalone and bench top systems housed in five separate rooms. The facility currently holds around 400 genetically distinct lines - currently approximately 70,000 fish, with a maximum capacity of 100,000 fish. Contact: Carole Wilson |
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Flow cytometry 
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(I) The FACSCalibur, housed at the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research’s Scientific Support services uses an air-cooled argon-ion laser (wavelength emission of 488 nm) and a red diode laser (wavelength emission of 635 nm). It has four fluorescence detection channels which simultaneously detect green, yellow-orange and red light emissions: Fluorescein (FITC) is used extensively for the green channel and Phycoerythrin (PE) or Propidium Iodide (PI - a DNA stain) for the yellow-orange channel. Dyes are also available which can be excited at 488 nm yet emit in the red (i.e PerCP). The FACSCalibur can analyze cell suspensions at the rate of several hundred cells per second. It is a closed fluidic system - allowing analysis of biohazardous samples (such as human blood samples, bacteria, etc) with appropriate precautions and authorization. (III) The Flow Cytometry Core Facility at UCL Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children operates three cell analysers: one BD LSRII with four lasers and 19 parameters (17 colours) detection capability, one CyAn ADP with two lasers and nine parameters (seven colours) detection platform, and one Special Order BD FACSArray with a 488 Blue Laser and two colours detection (530/30 and 575/26 filters), a 635 Red laser and two colours (670LP and 780/60 filters), and a 96-well plate loader for high throughput analysis. FACSArray is convenient especially for high throughput GFP screening. |
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There are three ÄKTA FPLC systems used for biomolecular characterisation and purification using Size Exclusion, Ion Exchange, Reverse Phase or Affinity Chromatography strategies. Two are housed in the cold room and the other is at room temperature. Contact: Carolyn Hyde |
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Genomics 
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UCL Genomics provides support from grant application, through experimental design and
application development, to data analysis. Contact: UCL Genomics The UCL Centre for Comparative Genomics offers high throughput sequencing and genotyping services via its DNA Analyzer facility. The idea is to provide an extremely cost-efficient system with low labour costs. Contact: Mari-Wyn Burley |
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GMP facilities 
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The GMP facility for cell therapy housed at the Royal Free Hospital is the only MHRA accredited GMP facility in the UK. Contact: Dr. Mark Lowdell, the only MHRA-license cell therapy holder in the UK. The GMP facility for viral vector production and cell processing for gene therapy, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Wolfson Foundation, provides resources and know-how for vector production and cell processing in the existing facilities at Chenies Mews and at the Great Ormond Street Hospital. |
| High throughput compound screening |
The Institute of Structural Molecular Biology (ISMB) has a high-throughput NMR screening platform, including one 500Mhz, one 600MHz and one soon-to-be-installed 700MHz system, providing highthroughput small molecule screening capability by NMR. It houses state-of-the-art instruments for highthroughput screening of compounds using surface plasmon resonance (e.g. Biacore 3000 equipment) and their detailed biophysical characterization (isothermal titration calorimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, fluorescence, AUC). X-ray crystallography screening to aid in design of bioactive molecule design (including two generators and two image plate detectors) is also available. Contact: Professor Gabriel Waksman, Director |
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The Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research’s Scientific Support services has four HPLC systems, one Gilson preparative/analytical system and the rest Shimadzu analytical instruments. These are all equipped with Auto samplers, Diode Array Detectors and Fraction collectors and can be used in Isocratic or Gradient mode. The systems are used principally for synthetic product characterisation and chromatography based bio-assays. One System is fitted with a Fluorimeter and a cooled autosampler for temperature dependant assays. Contact: Dr. Carolyn Hyde |
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The Imaging Facilities at UCL Biosciences comprise a suite of confocal, 2-photoin luminescence, wide field and conventional imaging systems. These systems will cover most imaging requirements for cells and tissues. There is a range of upright and inverted systems with various stage configurations. Environmental chambers are available on some systems making it possible to perform experiments over long time courses. More specialised imaging requirements including FRET, FLIM and FRAP can also be performed on some of the systems. The main Facilities are currently located on the 5th floor of the Rockefeller Building and a smaller unit is located on the 1st floor of the Medical Sciences Building. Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging is a new multidisciplinary research centre for experimental imaging, aiming to establish an integrated strategy for the development and application of novel in vivo imaging technologies to further understand the mechanisms of disease and develop therapeutic strategies. The Centre provides state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), photoacoustic imaging, 2-photon laser-scanning microscopy and ultrasound. Additional imaging technologies that will be incrementally added to the centre include bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging as well as SPECT/MRI and PET/CT. The Centre is located in the heart of the UCL campus in the Paul O’Gorman Building on Huntley Street and is ideally suited for cross-disciplinary work in neuroscience, cardiovascular biology, stem cell tracking and oncology. The Imaging Facility at the Institute of Ophthalmology offers UK academics
access to a broad range of advanced imaging and specimen preparation techniques.
The electron microscopes, preparative laboratories and equipment are located in
the Cayton Street basement along with the PALM laser capture microscope and
Zeiss LSM 700 and 710 confocal microscopes. The Leica TCS is located in the JIF
Building. The policy of the facility is to train users to prepare and examine
their own specimens wherever possible, utilising one or more of the available
microscopes. More imaging services are listed here |
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The Hamilton Microlab® STAR provides automated pipetting for virtually any assay. Replating is fast and efficient with no cross contamination and there is the option to aspirate/dispense into 1536 well plates, so assay miniaturisation is also possible. Unlike other robotic platforms, this uses air displacement pipetting removing the risk of system fluid causing problems with a protocol. Medium to high throughput applications can easily be accommodated on this platform. Contact: Paul Stevens or Jacob Raby |
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Mass Spectrometry 
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(I) Brucker MicroTOF mass spectrometry facility at UCL Biosciences has a Bruker MicroTOF Focus ESI-TOF mass spectrometer that is better for lower masses and an AGILENT 1100 HPLC purification input to mass spectrometer recommended for higher masses. (III) The biological mass spectrometry centre is dedicated to developing rapid, sensitive methods to study, diagnose and monitor the treatment of patients from Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Institute of Neurology. This combined proteomic and metabolomic mass spectrometry centre provides a unique environment whereby both clinical and non-clinical researchers work side by side, using state-of-the-art technology, to study the pathogenesis of childhood disease. In addition to housing advanced robotic, chromatography and electrophoresis equipment, ICH also houses eight mass spectrometers. However, the Centre also collaborates and provides access to biological mass spectrometry to several other groups within UCL. |
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Microarray services 
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(I) UCL Biosciences facility based on the second floor of the Anatomy building provides equipment and services to groups across the Division of Biosciences, with a range of access options - from using the equipment yourself to facility staff undertaking experiments on your behalf. (III) The Institute of Child Health Gene Microarray Centre |
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Nanotechnology 
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The London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) is a new multidisciplinary research institute and a joint venture between UCL and Imperial College. It is housed in a high-tech purpose-built building on the Gower Street campus and comprises state-of-the-art clean-room, characterisation, fabrication, imaging, manipulation and design laboratories. This experimental research is complemented by leading edge modelling, visualisation and theory. Of particular interest to UCL neuroscientists, the LCN offers expertise and facilities in atomic force microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, focused ion beam SEM, as well as nanobiochemistry and nanoelectronics laboratories. Contact information: http://www.london-nano.com/contact |
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Neuroimaging 
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The UCL Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging is perhaps the world’s foremost centre for functional imaging. The centre has three fMRI scanners available to researchers: a 1.5T Siemens Sonata and two 3T scanners (Siemens Allegra and Trio), plus an 275-channel MEG scanner and facilities for EEG, TMS and combined fMRI-TMS or fMRI-EEG. The centre developed and maintains SPM, the most widely used analysis software for neuroimaging data. |
| Proteomics |
(I) The Proteomics Facility at ICH
provides mass mapping identification of proteins excised from gels and analysis
by MALDI QTOF MS, sequencing identification of proteins excised from gels and
analysis by ESI QTOF MS, identification and quantitation of proteins within
mixtures (MSe Label-free Quantitation), SELDI TOF MS biomarker screen and
2D-PAGE / DIGE biomarker screen. (III) UCL Proteomics supports state-of-the-art mass spectrometry, quantitative protein profiling,
shotgun proteomics, MS tissue imaging and metabolomics expertise. |
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Q-PCR 
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(I) UCL Biosciences facility based on the second floor of the Anatomy building provides equipment and services to groups across the Division of Biosciences, with a range of access options - from using the equipment yourself to facility staff undertaking experiments on your behalf. (II) The Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research’s Scientific Support services facility has an Eppendorf Mastercycler ep Realplex considered one of the most sophisticated quantitative Real-time PCR (qPCR) systems currently available. The system contains 96 independent LEDs, enabling extremely accurate absolute and relative target quantification. Additionally, it has the ability to detect up to four fluorophores simultaneously, thereby allowing both monoplex, and multiplex reactions. |
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Resources |
An A-Z list of Resources (equipment and technologies) is available here |
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Transgenic Facility 
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UCL Transgenic Facility at the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research Contact: Bill Richardson Contact: Juan Pedro Martinez Barbera |
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Viral vector facility 
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The MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology (LMCB) has extensive facilities for most modern molecular approaches, including cell culture and microinjection facilities. The LMCB houses a viral laboratory suite which is available to UCL staff, and which can be used for the creation of lenti- and adenoviruses for neuronal transduction and for tracing the location of proteins in neurons. This facility is complemented by a new category 3 virus facility in the UCL Research Department of Structural and Molecular Biology. |
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Page last modified on 22 dec 11 09:40
