Biomedical Research Core Facilities
Spring 2020 Newsletter
The Perelman School of Medicine is proud to support our integral research core facilities and research teams. Please stay safe and be well!
In this issue:

  • Friendly Reminder - April 21st Core Directors Meeting
  • COVID-19 Resources & Opportunities
  • Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities COVID-19 resources
  • Update billing/collections
  • Update training modules and websites
  • iLab Opportunity
  • Core Facilities Spotlight
  • CVI Metabolomics Core Facility
  • Penn Electronic Design Shop
  • Transgenic & Chimeric Mouse Facility
Friendly Reminder - April 21st Core Directors Meeting
Just a friendly reminder that the April 21st Core Directors Meeting (4-5pm) will be held remotely via BlueJeans. Please find the meeting information below.

Meeting ID: 966 117 225 7
Join by phone at: 1-888-748-9073 (US Primary)

As always, we encourage you to reach out to April Weakley ( aweakley@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) with any items you'd like to see discussed.
COVID-19 Resources & Opportunities
The Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities COVID-19 resources
ABRF’s COVID-19 resource page may be useful during these challenging times. The page can be found at: https://abrf.org/covid-19 .

Please feel free to share as you see fit. 
Update billing/collections
As you are aware, the measures undertaken to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19 virus have substantially reduced, or stopped altogether, core operations across PSOM. During this challenging time, please consider utilizing some effort to catch up on any outstanding billing and collection activities. These efforts can help offset some of the continued costs incurred by your facilities with the anticipated decreased revenue.
Update training modules and websites
Please consider using this time to create or update training modules and SOPs for yourself, your staff, and your stakeholders. In addition, you may also want to update your core facility website to ensure it provides the most up-to-date information regarding your research and services.
iLab Opportunity
Now may be a time to consider switching to the School’s online core management software, iLab. Live demos of the iLab core suite are available remotely, and implementing the iLab solution is also done remotely. 

As you consider iLab, please note the following potential benefits:

  • Researchers can request services and schedule equipment via a uniform interface.
  • Tracking services and projects – from quotes, to ordering, to billing – is automated, and invoices are automatically posted in BEN general ledger.
  • iLab can easily be accessed internally using the Pennkey. External users do not require special permission; they can register in iLab from their own institutions.
  • 26-digit Penn account spending permission is maintained automatically through an interface to PSOM’s CAMS system (central account management system).
  • External users can enter P.O.s, and invoices are sent from iLab directly to them.
  • Equipment scheduling is managed in configurable calendars, with many options to identify when equipment is available, as well as user status (trained, needs assistance, etc.)

For more information about iLab and helpful links, visit PSOM’s iLab website ( https://www.med.upenn.edu/pmacs/iLab.html ) or contact Curtis Embree ( Curtis.Embree@pennmedicine.upenn.edu ).
Core Facilities Spotlight: CVI Metabolomics Core Facility
"Busier Than Ever"
by Chris Petucci Ph.D.
CVI Metabolomics Core Facility Director

My research scientist Min-Soo Kim and I have been working from home and involved in several research activities since leaving the lab on March 18 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been busily working on:

  • Manuscripts and scientific posters in progress with core scientists as co-authors
  • Chris Petucci and Min-Soo Kim are co-authors on manuscripts in progress by Frederic Bushman (Professor and Chair Department of Microbiology, Co-Director Center for Research on Coronaviruses and Other Emerging Pathogens, Co-Director PennCHOP Microbiome Program, Perelman School of Medicine) and Kathleen Boesze-Battaglia (Assistant Dean for Academic Initiatives, Professor of Biochemistry, Penn School of Dental Medicine).
  • Prepared figures and text for manuscripts using metabolomics data
  • Accepted abstracts for posters on targeted metabolomics of human heart (Min-Soo Kim, Ken Bedi, Chris Petucci, Ken Margulies, Dan Kelly, Zoltan Arany) and untargeted metabolomics of a mouse colitis model (Peder Lund, Min-Soo Kim, Chris Petucci, Ben Garcia and colleagues) for the 2020 ASMS conference on mass spectrometry now being organized as an online conference in the future.
  • Grant submissions in progress and recently awarded grants with the Metabolomics Core as a collaborator:
  • P01 submission in progress with Professors Daniel Kelly (Director of the Penn Cardiovascular Institute), Constantinos Koumenis (Penn Dept. of Radiation Oncology), and Ze’ev Ronai (Chief Scientific Advisor, Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program, NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute)
  • Preparing a PowerPoint presentation on the Metabolomics Core for an online NCI review visit for a Cancer Center Support Grant
  • R01 submission in progress for Professor James Lewis (Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Perelman School of Medicine)
  • R01 submission in progress with Professor James Lewis (Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Perelman School of Medicine)
  • Editing an S10 Major Instrumentation Grant resubmission for a Thermo Orbitrap ID-X mass spectrometer for untargeted metabolomics
  • R01 awarded to Dr. Shana McCormack (CHOP, Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine)
  • U01 awarded to Professor Verena Staedtke (Associate Professor of Neurology,Johns Hopkins School of Medicine) and Simon Lacey (Director, Translational and Correlative Studies Laboratory, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, Perelman School of Medicine)
  • R01 awarded to Professor Kathleen Boesze-Battaglia (Assistant Dean for Academic Initiatives, Professor of Biochemistry, Penn School of Dental Medicine)
  • Metabolomics projects
  • Min-Soo performed statistical analyses of metabolomics data for Professor Thomas Jongens (Associate Professor of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine). Since our statistical data analysis software and computer are in the lab, Min-Soo learned R programming for PCA, hierarchical clustering analysis, and Random Forest analysis on his laptop computer at home for this project.
  • Frequent communications by email, teleconferences, and videoconferences with researchers and professors on several ongoing metabolomics projects
 
We are thankful to be productive during this challenging time due to the outstanding science, professors, and highly collaborative and collegial research environment that make Penn a special place to be.
Core Facilities Spotlight: Penn Electronic Design Shop
The Penn Electronic Design Shop is working directly with the Penn COVID-19 FastResponse team to provide face masks for HUP healthcare professionals.  Headbands for the masks are created using a publicly available file on the NIH 3D Print Exchange website Mask face shields are intended to be reusable after cleaning with >70% alcohol.
 
The manufacturing process includes installing a rubber band at the back of the mask to ensure fit, securely mounting a plastic cover sheet into the headband, and gluing a piece of foam inside the headband for comfort.  
The shop would like to express its deep gratitude to the following individuals for their efforts in this initiative:
  • Dr. Jason Moore, for his continuous support of the Electronic Design Shop
  • Dr. Graciela Gonzalez-Hernandez, for provision of a Creality CR-10S 3D printer and plastic filament integral to construction of the face masks
  • Alexander Santos, Penn EDS Instrumentation Engineer, for running the 3D printer from home to create headbands for the face masks. 
Core Facilities Spotlight: Transgenic & Chimeric Mouse Facility
Dear Faculty,

During this time of crisis, the Transgenic & Chimeric Mouse Facility is pleased to continue to provide a limited service of  sperm cryopreservation  in order to preserve valuable mouse lines in your colony.
 
We will require the following from you:

  • 2-3 males (aged 2-6 months) transferred to us through ULAR services. Please make sure the cage card lists the name of the mouse line as it appears on your online service request. These can be submitted online at: http://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/my/transcore/user.
  • Note: ULAR will require pinworm test results or quarantine in order to process the transfer request.

We will collect and cryopreserve the  sperm only ; no embryo collection or QC test by IVF will be carried out on these samples. Based on our extensive testing in the past, we are confident that the frozen sperm will suffice for line preservation.
 
All cryopreserved samples will remain in our centralized  liquid nitrogen storage  facility. You will be billed a fee of  $24/line/year  in monthly increments
 
The fee for cryopreservation is  $815/line . It is uncertain whether the PSOM will offer any  subvention  at this time but you can certainly request that from Dr. Stuart Isaacs ( isaacs@pennmedicine.upenn.edu).
 
It is our hope that this streamlined service will allow for the preservation of critical lines and a decrease in cage numbers in this challenging environment.
 
Best regards,
Jean
Jean Richa, PhD
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