High parameter cell analysis by BD FACSymphony
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Abstract
With the present proposal the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR)-Fondazione IOR requests co-funding for the acquisition of a BD FACSymphony by the SNF. This proposal contains five independent research projects from Group Leaders of the IOR, the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland (IOSI), and Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale (EOC) for which such state-of-the-art equipment would be essential. In addition different research groups from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) already demonstrated a strong interest in the future use of this equip-ment when it will be available in-house, as granted by the inclusion in the current proposal of their respective pro-jects and letters of interest. The IOR-Fondazione IOR hosts more than 50 scientists working in cancer biology, im-munology and translational science. The expertise available spans from cellular and molecular biology to molecular pharmacology, cancer immunology, genomics and bioinformatics. The Institute was established in 2003 and serves also as a training facility for Swiss and international undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral and clinical fellows in collaboration with Swiss and Italian Universities. The Institute is an integral component of the clinical research activities of the IOSI participating in translational studies and multi-center clinical trials and providing expertise, facilities and technical support for pharmacodynamics, pharmacogenomics and molecular follow-up stud-ies. As of 2017 IOR got integrated together with IRB and EOC into the new Faculty of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Lugano (USI). IOR, IRB and EOC are separate entities with the two research institutes, IOR and IRB, managed by independent Foundations. By the end of 2020, the two main research institutes (IOR and IRB) affiliated at the Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI) and part of the EOC investigators will be united under a single roof after the completion of the construction of a research building in the new campus in Bellinzona. In light of this de-velopment, by the end of 2018, most of the individual research facilities of the two Institutes have been reorganized as shared core facilities open to all researchers at the IOR and IRB and other investigators at the EOC. This reorgan-ization of the main equipment and facilities has already given advantages in the QC, maintenance, standardization and optimization of the use of the resources. To improve the quality of the service, IOR has also decided to put the genomic facility in common with IRB and to move the genomic facility in the same building of the FACS facility. The FACS facility is equipped with FACSAria III, BD Fortessa, FACSCantoll, FACSCanto I, and a SP6800 spec-tral analyzer and staffed with two full time specialized operators with decennial experience (called Dr. David Jar-rossay and Dr. Diego Morone) offering cellular analysis, technical advice, and training on six BD flow cytometers. Dr. Jarrossay is a highly trained flow cytometrist with more than 10 years experience in the set up and management of different flow cytometers.