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From left: Karen Dulany and Maureen Harmon in the Eppley Histology Laboratory. |
Core facilities, sometimes called shared resources, provide sophisticated, expensive technology and expertise that no single lab would have the financial resources to purchase and learn. These fee-for-service resources help investigators maximize productivity by providing access to technologies, services and scientific consultation at a reasonable cost. Core facilities also provide stability, reliability, cost-effectiveness and quality control that would be difficult to achieve otherwise.
Facility name: Eppley Histology Core Facility
Location: Eppley Histology Lab is on the 5th floor of Eppley Institute, Rooms 5005 and 5006.
Services offered: The staff is available to answer questions about proper methods of tissue fixation and what tissues can be embedded together. Services range from processing, embedding and cutting of tissue specimens. This includes routine H and E staining, many specials stains, decalcification of bone samples and cutting unstained slides on special adhesive slides for future use in Immuno Histochemical, which are then done by the individual investigator’s labs.
Frozen sections are also cut for routine H and E or for use in IHC. Most tissue samples have a 2 to 3 day turn around time but this does not include bone sections, which need decalcification.
Featured equipment: Specimens are processed on a VIP computerized tissue processor, which enables the machine to be set on different program times and temperatures. Therefore various sizes or types of specimens can be processed by individualized methods. Tissues are then embedded in paraffin on a Sakura Tissue Tek center, which also is computerized so correct temperatures can be regulated. Other equipment includes balances, microtomes and a cryostat for frozen sectioning.
Testimonials: The core facility serves more than 50 different investigators from many research labs on campus, plus the Omaha Area Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, Creighton University Medical Center and offsite laboratories. More than 24,000 slides were done in the last fiscal year. The core has two full time histology staff with many years of experience.
Manager contact information: For more information contact manager Karen Dulany at 559-5123 or kkdulany@unmc.edu; or Maureen Harmon at 559-5123 or maharmon@unmc.edu.
Core facility managers wishing to have a focus piece done on their facilities can send an e-mail to today@unmc.edu with the facility’s name, location, services offered, featured equipment, testimonials, manager contact information and a photo of the facility.