The George Washington University

Core Facilities

Animal Research Facility

2300 Eye St., N.W., Washington, DC 20037
Phone: 202-994.2871 Fax: 202-994-5091

The Animal Research Facility (ARF) provides space, equipment, and care for laboratory animals used for research and teaching purposes. Working closely with the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, the ARF provides the highest standards of humane care and use of laboratory animals and assures compliance with University and federal regulations. They share responsibility to assure that the use of animals in research projects is necessary, that the investigator has included in the protocol measures to eliminate any unnecessary pain and discomfort to the animals, and that alternatives to the use of live animals have been considered.

The ARF has maintained continuous accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care since 1974 and has an assurance statement on file with the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, thus meeting all Public Health Service guidelines for animal use and care. The ARF also provides information, consultation, instruction, and technical support to users of research animals.

The ARF staff is available for consultation regarding appropriate animal models; use of analgesics, anesthetics, and tranquilizers; budgeting for animal purchases and care; and the availability of space and equipment.

For more information
http://www.gwumc.gwu.edu/research/animal.htm

BSL-3 Core Facility

Ross Hall 712, 2300 Eye St., N.W., Washington, DC 20037
Phone: 202-994-2715 Fax: 202-994-0465

The BSL-3 Core Facility is a biosafety level-three laboratory designed for research with hazardous biological agents that have a potential for respiratory transmission and may cause serious health effects. The design of the facility ensures the safety of both researchers and the general public. The facility contains six individual labs with biosafety cabinets, incubators, and refrigerators, as well as a warm room, cold room, confocal microscope system, chemical fume hood, minus-80-degree freezer, high-speed centrifuge, ultra-speed centrifuge, and pass-through autoclave. Both supply and exhaust air are filtered. There is a dedicated emergency generator for the facility and 704 status exceeds the CDC/NIH guidelines for a laboratory facility of this level.

For more information
http://www.gwumc.gwu.edu/research/core/bsl3.htm

The Center for Microscopy and Image Analysis

Ross Hall 406, 2300 I St., Washington, DC 20037
Phone: 202-994-2881 Fax: 202-994-8885

The Center for Microscopy and Image Analysis at the Medical Center provides University-wide core resources for acquisition and processing of microscopic images of relevance to biological, biomedical and translation sciences. The center—supported by the Office of Research, Compliance and Technology Transfer—was made an institutional core facility in 1999 and has remained true to its original goals of research, dissemination of knowledge and educational opportunity at several levels. Among the priorities of the center are maximum utilization of the available equipment and generation of the highest-quality scientific data.

For more information
http://www.gwumc.gwu.edu/research/core/cmia/

Flow Cytometry Core Facility

Ross Hall 416, 2300 Eye Street N.W., Washington, DC 20037
Phone: 202-994-0775  Fax: 202-994-0752

Flow cytometry is a process in which physical and/or chemical characteristics of single cells (or particles) are measured as they pass through a flow cytometer in a fluid stream in front of a light source. Measured characteristics include light scattering and fluorescence, and multiple characteristics can be measured simultaneously to identify subsets of populations. Sorted cells are routinely used for functional assays, gene expression studies, cloning of gene-modified cells or proteomic analyses. Supported by the Medical Center and user fees, the Flow Cytometry Core Facility currently houses a state-of-the-art, digital high-speed sorter and an analog analyzer. Projects conducted by the major users include developing safe hematopoietic stem cell gene therapies to treat inherited hematologic disorders like hemophilia A, and characterization of dendritic cell populations involved in immune responses to parasitic infections modeling those found in patients afflicted with AIDS.

For more information
http://www.gwumc.edu/cytometry/index.html

Genomics Core Facility

2300 Eye St., NW - Ross Hall 554 Washington, DC 20037
Phone: 202-994-2310

This Core is available to serve all faculty members at the University whose work involves gene profiling, molecular pathogenesis, mutation detection, and biomarker discovery. The Facility allows for on-site gene transcript profiling, mutation/polymorphism detection, and SNP microarray genome-wide association studies. The Facility’s mission is to facilitate state-of-the-art biomedical research by the faculty; to educate medical and graduate students, fellows, and faculty in genomics; to develop genetic tests as advanced diagnostics in patient care; and to promote personalized medicine as the future of medical care.

For more information
http://www.gwumc.gwu.edu/genomics/General/index.htm