Technology Centres

Biobank
The BioBank of the Research Centre for Women’s and Infants’ Health (RCWIH) is a biorepository established to support perinatal research programs by providing access to normal and pathological tissue specimens and associated clinical data. The RCWIH BioBank operates on a fee-for-service (cost recovery) basis. The program has ethics approval from the Mount Sinai Hospital Research Ethics Board, and is overseen by the RCWIH BioBank Governance Committee. RCWIH BioBank staff are dedicated to the procurement, processing and archival of fresh, frozen and fixed specimens for a wide range of applications in perinatal research. Collected specimens include placental tissue and membranes, umbilical cord tissue and cord blood, and parental samples (blood, saliva, buccal cells). The RCWIH BioBank is a program of the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute and the Mount Sinai Hospital/University Health Network Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
http://biobank.lunenfeld.ca

 

Biospecimen Repository

This repository is affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital’s Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and stores biological specimens collected through research studies for investigators within and outside the Lunenfeld. The new laboratory and freezer storage facility provides services to process biospecimens, and isolate DNA or RNA from these source samples.

 

DNA Microarray Facility

Microarray techniques help Lunenfeld researchers sift through and analyze genetic information so that they can better understand the biology underlying human diseases. This facility offers services and a variety of microarray products including mouse, human, yeast, C. elegans and zebra fish arrays.
http://research.lunenfeld.ca/microarray/

 

Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry

Mass spectrometry is a technique for separating and identifying biomolecules based on their molecular weight. Recent advances in this area, combined with state-of-the-art instrumentation in the Lunenfeld’s Proteomics Technology Centre, greatly facilitate the identification of small amounts of proteins and their chemical modifications from complex biological samples. This facility consists of a variety of mass spectrometers and separation systems and was expanded in 2010. State-of-the-art instrumentation in the Lunenfeld’s Proteomics Technology Centre greatly facilitates the identification of small amounts of proteins and their chemical modifications from complex biological samples. This resource allows Lunenfeld researchers and their collaborators to systematically characterize the variety of multi-protein assemblies present in normal cells and the changes in these protein complexes and their post-translational modifications that characterize the cellular response to different types of disease.

 

Microscopy and Imaging

State-of-the-art microscopes combined with advanced cell labeling techniques and image analysis software provide unprecedented glimpses into living cells. The Lunenfeld’s Imaging Centre provides high-end instrumentation along with support and training to generate and interpret microscopic images. This facility enables Lunenfeld investigators to visualize fine structures within the cell and to observe processes such as neuronal signaling and communication between cells at the molecular level. A variety of fluorescence microscopes (spinning disk, 2-photon, etc.) are housed in this facility. In addition, there are two Applied Precision Deltavision systems, an OMX structured illumination microscope, and a new, customized 2-photon microscope equipped with lasers that allow for simultaneous visualization and manipulation of a specific protein in real time and in live cells.

 

A facility within the Lunenfeld that gives researchers access to a state-of-the-art phenotyping facility within the Institute, quick and easy access to all the costs involved, protocols, specific score sheets, and useful information and links for each test. The Neurobehaviour Core site allows staff to select tests to run and make arrangements to be trained on the protocol and equipment properly; set up meetings with core staff who can assist with any difficulties that may arise, and; book consultation meetings before/after testing mice, to help select the appropriate test or analyze the data.
http://neurobehaviour.lunenfeld.ca

 

Robotics and High Throughput Screening Facility

This facility assists in the development of chemical and cellular assays for a variety of high-throughput experiments, and gives our researchers access to a range of advanced robotic and analysis instrumentation as well as chemical and RNAi libraries. These technologies enable Lunenfeld as well as other Canadian scientists to probe the molecular pathways involved in myriad aspects of cellular, developmental and disease biology, and as a means to discover key compounds for drug discovery.  
http://robotics.lunenfeld.ca/

 

Toronto Centre for Phenogenomics (TCP)

A state-of-the-art facility for the production, housing, and preclinical analyses of genetically altered model organisms. Through the modeling of disease, the TCP helps our researchers seek treatments for diseases including diabetes, cancer, musculoskeletal diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular and renal disease, and stem cell and regenerative medicine. The TCP is a unique collaboration between Mount Sinai Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children.
http://www.phenogenomics.ca/

 

TCP Transgenic Core Facility (TG Core)

An amalgamation of the Transgenic Facilities at Mount Sinai Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children that has pioneered innovative technologies to create genetically engineered model organisms. The TG Core serves resident TCP research programs, TCP member institutes, and laboratories around Toronto and internationally. This is an amalgamation of the Transgenic Facilities at Mount Sinai Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children that has pioneered innovative technologies to create genetically engineered model organisms. The TG Core serves resident TCP research programs, TCP member institutes, and laboratories around Toronto and internationally.

 

ES Cell Core

This centralized facility provides Lunenfeld researchers with support and reagents for the generation and maintenance of stem cell lines that are used to study the biology of human diseases. It is a centralized facility for the handling and manipulation of mouse ES cells. The Core provides the users from Lunenfeld laboratories with quality-controlled ES cells developed at the Lunenfeld as well as reagents necessary for the experiments. Currently R1 and G4 ES cells as well as Mouse Embryonic fibroblast (MEF) prepared from TgN (DR4) 1 Jae strain that are resistant to G418, puromycin, hygromycin, and 6-thioguanine are available for use in the facility. The pool of ES cells and Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts (MEF) used by the core has been MAP tested free of a range of mouse pathogens and Mycoplasma.

 

The Centre for Modeling Human Disease (CMHD)

The CMHD is a regional platform for the generation and analysis of models of human disease. Based within the TCP, the CMHD provides centralized, state-of-the-art infrastructure for large-scale and systematic production, phenotyping, archiving, and distribution of genetically engineered model organisms. These models are critical to both academia and industry to analyze disease processes, and for preclinical drug development.