Quick Jump Biotechnology Research-Services Facility Keck Biophysics Facility Analytical Services Laboratory Flow Cytometry Facility Comprehensive Cancer Center Central Facilities The Biological Imaging Facility Laser-Based Microscopy and Digital Imaging Facility Confocal Microscope Facility Macromolecular Facilities Materials Research Center Targeted Mutagenesis Facility

Northwestern University has made a commitment to create and maintain a superior environment for research in the life sciences, biotechnology and bioengineering. Tens of millions of dollars have been recently spent or are now allocated for construction and renovation of laboratory space for ChBE, BME, and BMBCB. The entire Technological Institute building (Tech), which houses the entire McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (MEAS), Chemistry, Physics and a small fraction of BMBCB, has been completely gutted and renovated at the expense of over $110 million. ChBE and BME are now housed in a totally refurbished and redesigned section of Tech, with modern and efficient laboratory facilities which meet the highest standards of modern bioengineering research.

A new Materials and Life Sciences Building (MLS) houses one third of BMBCB. The rest of BMBCB is housed in the Hogan building which is connected by bridges to both the Tech and MLS buildings. A new building Life Sciences Building is currently under construction. This building is being built next to Hogan and the MLS building and will include 87,000 net sf of research space and a 14,000 net sf vivarium (animal facility). Another 40,000 sf building under construction is the The Institute for Nanotechnology building. Laboratory space will allow room for over 100 postdoctoral researchers, graduate students and visiting scientists plus up to 10 faculty members.

Northwestern has provided or guaranteed substantial funds for the purchase and maintenance of major equipment and facilities that are vital for research in the life sciences and bioengineering. These shared Research Facilities, beyond the laboratory facilities of the Training Faculty members, are described in detail in the NU web site Shared Research Facilities at Northwestern University, and include:

• Biotechnology Research-Services Facility
• The Keck Biophysics Facility
• The Analytical Services Laboratory
• The Flow Cytometry Facility
• Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center Core Facilities
• The Biological Imaging Facility (Evanston Campus)
• The Laser-Based Microscopy and Digital Imaging Facility
• The Confocal Microscope Facility
• The Macromolecular Crystallography, Spectroscopy, and Computation Facility
• The Materials Research Center
• Targeted Mutagenesis Facility

Biotechnology Research-Services Facility
Including equipment and personnel for state-of-the-art services in nucleic acid and peptide synthesis; nucleic acid, peptide, and protein analysis; and DNA array analysis and expertise.

The Keck Biophysics Facility
Located in the MLS building. An internationally unique resource for the study of the structures and interactions of biological and synthetic macro-molecules. This facility was created by NU's Center for Structural Biology with grants from the W.M.Keck Foundation and additional support from NIH, the Rice Foundation, and the Robert H.Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The Analytical Services Laboratory
Spectroscopic analysis (NMR, infrared, mass, atomic adsorption, X-ray, UV-Vis, GC-MS, GC, fluorescence, and polarimetry).

Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Shared Research Core Facilities
The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University funds shared facilities and resources that provide services, equipment and expertise that are fundamental to understanding the basic biology and clinical manifestations of cancer. These facilities and resources are accessible to all of the members of the Cancer Center and support the Cancer Center's mission to foster basic and translational research in the mechanisms and treatment of cancer.

The Biological Imaging Facility (Evanston Campus)
Enables students, staff, and faculty to conduct studies that include both scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Freeze-fracturing and sputter-coating as well as photographic copy facilities are also available here.

The Laser-Based Microscopy and Digital Imaging Facility
The mission of this facility is to provide equipment, instruction, and technical support in the use of lasers and digital imaging techniques in microscopy. The following techniques are available: optical tweezers, laser surgery, digital imaging, imaging of intracellular Ca2+ or pH, and immunocytochemical and autoradiographic imaging.

The Confocal Microscope Facility
The purpose of the facility is to make confocal technology available to the NU community and to train researchers in the use of this equipment.

The Macromolecular Crystallography, Spectroscopy, and Computation Facility
This facility provides interdepartmental shared resources for x-ray crystallography, optical spectroscopy, biochemical computation, and computer-aided drug design (CADD). Additional spectroscopy and computational resources are available within the University as well as through additional sources. Resources are also available through participation in the DuPont-Northwestern-Dow Collaborative Access Team at the Advanced Photon Source located in the Argonne National Laboratories in suburban Chicago.

The Materials Research Center
MRC, an NSF-sponsored Center facilities for the synthesis and characterization of materials, which includethe Advanced Optical Facility, Electron Magnetic Resonance Facility, Electron Probe Instrumentation Facility, Magnet and Low Temperature Facility, Materials Processing and Crystal Growth Facility, Mechanical Behavior and Fatigue Facility, Synchrotron Facility, and the X-Ray Diffraction Facility.

Targeted Mutagenesis Facility
The goal of this facility is to generate chimeric (knock-out) mice by using homologous recombination and embryonic stem (ES) cells for biomedical research conducted by investigators of Northwestern University, Northwestern University Medical School, Children's Memorial Institute for Education and Research (CMIER), and other affiliated institutions.

High Throughput Analysis Laboratory
The Northwestern University High Throughput Analysis Laboratory (HTA) is a shared, open-access resource, providing researchers with equipment and expertise for the development and execution of high throughput biological analysis and chemical library screening. HTA is equipped with state-of-the-art robots for micro-liter and nano-liter liquid handling, robots for automated microbial culture handling, plate readers for target-based assays and phenotypic assays using photometric and radioactive label readouts and with an automated fluorescence microscopy system and sophisticated software for quantitative imaging analysis in high content screening/analysis. HTA provides robust automated solution to users, assists users in design HTP experiments and data automation, provides access to robotic equipment, provides grant preparation assistance for HTP related projects and collaborates in grant applications with an HTP component. HTA manages on-site access to advanced whole-genome RNAi collections for knockdown of mouse and human gene expression from Open Biosystems. Please contact HTA for a complete description of facility capabilities or to discuss your project.