On December 4, 2019, the Founder’s Council presented more than $143,000 in grants to the following Texas Biomed researchers to buy equipment in support of their work.
iSeq 100 Sequencing System: Automated RN and DNA sequencer
Applicant: Dr. Shelley Cole on behalf of the Population Health Program and the Molecular Core
The iSeq is an affordable and accessible bench top sequencer that allows sequencing of DNA and RNA with the push of a button. The iSeq allows the user to assess the potential quality of the sequencing libraries prior to sending out samples for large, costly scale analysis. Smaller scale sequencing projects, which can be expensive to perform on equipment designed for large scale sequencing, can be performed quickly and affordably on the iSeq. The addition of this equipment to our investigational approach will allow us to significantly increase our understanding of biomedical disease processes and ultimately increase our impact on human health.
Laparoscopy equipment: for less invasive procedures in body cavities
Applicant: Dr. Pat Frost on behalf of SNPRC
Laparoscopic surgery allows procedures to be performed within body cavities using small incisions with the aid of a camera for diagnosis/prognosis of disease, sampling, injecting, surgeries and therapeutic interventions. Laparoscopic techniques reduce inflammation, decrease post-operative incision-related pain and decrease the risk of infection. This technique reduces the time it takes to return animals to social housing. Equipment is compatible with and will augment the bronchoscopy provided by a grant from the Founder’s Council in 2018.
Motic EASYSCAN infinity slide scanner: converts pathology slides to digital images for easy storage and analysis
Applicant: Dr. Shyamesh Kumar on behalf of the Population Health Program and SNPRC
Fully-automated, whole slide imaging system (WSI), which scans and converts pathology slides containing specimens to digital images, creating a virtual slide repository for image analysis, diagnostics, peer review, publications, and teaching. Virtual slides are web-based, which allows multi-user, real-time viewing and analyses, making collaboration an easy task. WSI supports image analysis software to quantify the data on the slide. Multiple slides from different tissues or different characteristics of the same tissue can be analyzed simultaneously. Investigators can select, annotate, and capture images of regions of interest for a faster review for submission of grants and manuscripts.
