OVERVIEW

The mission of the FCCSSR is exists to provide investigators at St. Jude with access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, services, and expertise in flow cytometry and cell sorting, for the analysis of fluorescently labeled cells and the purification of cell population by FACS or magnetic separation. This resource offers a full range of staff-provided services that is unusual in its breadth, from complete sample preparation to reagent provision to experimental execution and provision of results using flow analysis or cell sorting, all performed by a highly experienced staff of 10. The resource serves as the center for expertise in this technology and is equipped with the highest-end instrumentation for staff operation and for independent use.

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Image of two men at computer screen

IMPACT

This shared resource provides expertise in the technology of flow cytometry and cell sorting, which is widely applicable to many research programs at St. Jude across multiple departments. The range of services offered allows investigators to perform the latest experiments, performed by highly experienced staff using cutting-edge equipment, to generate high quality results. The FCCSSR works with between 70 and 100 independent investigators each year and is acknowledged as a contributor on 30-45 peer-reviewed publications annually.

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The Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting core is critical to our work. Our [model system] requires very complicated flow cytometry. The core was a real partner in that effort. Now we can do it quite routinely with their help.

Shannon McKinney-Freeman, Associate Member


Instrumentation and capabilities

  • Propel BigFoot spectral cell sorter (new, 2021)
  • Flow Cytometry Analyzers
    • 2 BD Biosciences Symphony analyzers (5-6 laser/30 colors)
    • 3 BD Biosciences LSR/Fortessa instruments (4-5 laser/18 colors)
  • Cell Sorters
    • 6 BD Biosciences Aria cell sorters (4-5 laser/18 colors)
  • User Operated Analyzers
    • 4 BD Biosciences Fortessa instruments (4-5 laser/17 colors)
  • Additional Equipment for High Throughput Analysis
    • BD Biosciences HTS
    • Intellicyt Hypercyt

Flow Cytometry by the numbers: 

5,000

hours/year of instrument time on Flow Cytometric Analysis

6,000

hours/year of instrument time on Cell Sorting

20,000

samples processed per year

75

mL of antibodies provided annually to investigators

120

individuals trained annually on 18-color flow analyzers

Director

photo of Richard Ashmun

Richard Ashmun, PhD

Director, Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting
richard.ashmun@stjude.org

BIOGRAPHY >