Einstein Mount Sinai Diabetes Research Center

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Over the past decade, a succession of remarkable technological advances has reconfigured the landscape of biomedical research using “immuno-technologies”, the broad collection of methodologies pertaining to the quantification, correlation and visualization of analytical modalities in the study of the immune system. Despite their extraordinary promise, however, implementation of these technologies by academic researchers includes significant obstacles, chiefly the need for ready access to appropriate technological infrastructure and the considerable cost associated with assay performance. To address these challenges, the new Immuno- Technology Core (ITC) has been conceived as an education, coordination and service core that will provide a paradigm for inter-institutional cooperation and will be the focus of directed recruitment and expansion of our diabetes immunology research base. Specifically, the ITC will focus its activities on distinct technology platforms that have been prioritized in discussion with multiple Einstein-Mount Sinai Diabetes Research Center (ES-DRC) investigators, based on the evolving research needs of our research base. Access to respective services is distributed across both Einstein and Mount Sinai; the ITC will harness the combined technology infrastructure for the following objectives: 1. To raise awareness about select state-of-the-art technology infrastructure available at Einstein and Mount Sinai (cellular, imaging, and immunomodulation platforms); to provide consultation and advice about the potential and limitations of respective technologies; to assist investigators with experimental planning, design and considerations about expected financial investments; and to facilitate interactions with managers, application scientists and data analysis specialists working with each technology platform. 2. To provide support services required for the effective and efficient implementation of tailored experimental protocols. Accordingly, the ITC will focus on specific reagent selection, testing and validation; protocol adjustment and optimization; and integration with established assay workflows. 3. To facilitate access and provide practical support for the usage of selected technology platforms: a) cellular – mass cytometry / Cytometry by Time-of-Flight (CyTOF); b) imaging – multiplexed immunohistochemistry and whole-slide imaging as well as biophotonic in vivo imaging; and c) immunomodulation – synTac technology developed at Einstein for antigen-specific T cell modulation. Collectively, ITC services and expertise will support and advance the work of ES-DRC investigators by catalyzing the integration of cutting-edge, complex and otherwise often cost-prohibitive technologies into their research programs. Conceived as a novel and unique resource for the study of both islet biology and the immunological aspects of type 1 and type 2 diabetes and obesity, the ITC will both support existing ES-DRC efforts and serve as a recruiting tool for new investigators in these areas.