Resources
Flow Cytometry Instrumentation and High Performance Analytical Pipelines. The Unified Flow Cytometry Core, the centralized FACS facility for the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, operates in strategic partnership with the UPMC affiliate, the Hillman Cancer Center Flow Core. The collaborating cores together house six high-speed sorters and sixteen analyzers, including state-of-the art spectral sorters and analyzers. Many instruments are equipped with 5 laser capabilities. Sorters are: biocontained Cytek Aurora CS spectral sorter (5 laser, 68 detector), biocontained ThermoFisher Bigfoot spectral sorter (5 laser, 35 detector), biocontained BD Aria IIU (5 laser, 17 detector), biocontained BD Aria II (5 laser, 17 detector), biocontained Beckman Coulter MoFlo Astrios sorter (5 laser, 23 detector), biocontained Sony MA900 sorter (4 laser, 14 detector), and a non-contained BD Aria IIU (3 laser, 12 detector). Analyzers are: five Cytek Aurora spectral instruments (5 laser, 64 channel), three BD LSRFortessa (4-5 laser, 15-18 detector), four CytoFlex units, (2-6 lasers, up to 21 detectors), two BD LSRII (5 laser, 17 detector), Attune NxT (4 laser, 16 detector), Amnis ImageStream imaging cytometer (6 laser, 10 detector) and a Canopy Biosciences ZellScanner ONE chip cytometer. Biocontained sorters and analyzers support BSL2+ research.
Integrated analytical pipelines include algorithmic clustering (viSNE, SPADE, FlowSOM, PCA, K-means, etc.) in a high-performance environment, novel algorithm development/application, and next-gen sequencing:
· Center for Research Computing - algorithmic analysis. Two high-performance clusters enable computational flow cytometry analyses to be carried out independently and simultaneously on individual sets of processors: H2P (29-core Broadwell processor comprised of 96 nodes, 64 GB RAM, and 256 BD SSD) and HTC (16-core Haswell processors comprised of 20 nodes, 256 GB RAM, and 256 BD SSD).
· Center for Causal Discovery - development and application of novel computational algorithms. Integrates biomedical and data scientists to develop and advance new constraint-based and Bayesian algorithms in a supercomputing environment. The CCD is a joint effort of approximately 40 investigators at Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, and Yale University.
· Health Sciences Next Generation Sequencing Core - bulk and single cell sequencing. Supports high-throughput DNA and RNA sequencing. Equipment includes the 10X Genomics Chromium platform, Illumina NovaSeq 6000 series high throughput sequencers and NextSeq500 sequencers. The associated Genome Analysis Core provides data analysis services.
· University of Pittsburgh Center for Systems Immunology. Interfaces with systems biology in all of its forms. This collaborative platform is overseen by Center Director Harinder Singh, PhD, an international expert in the molecular underpinnings of lymphocyte development and immune responses. The mission of the Center is to harness newly emerging experimental, computational and engineering approaches to analyze the immune system in health and disease, thereby facilitating its rational therapeutic manipulation. Investigators collaborate longitudinally to work on major problems of translational interest relevant to human immunological disease.