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School of Medicine Columbia

Training and Courses

Our staff is available to provide in-depth training on the instrumentation and techniques commonly used in the IRF. Students also can receive course credit for completing training courses. 

Instrumentation Training 

Several avenues for individuals to be trained on instrumentation and techniques commonly used in the IRF exist. The most direct is to schedule time with the appropriate staff member for individual training on a piece of equipment. All staff members have a number of responsibilities, so please do not complete an experiment and request immediate training or help. Please schedule time for assistance at least one week in advance.


Course Credit

Two avenues exist for receiving graduate credit while learning to use equipment in the IRF. The first is through the Independent Studies mechanism with one of the faculty members. This involves extensive training on an instrument or technique including sample preparation and the completion of a research project.

The second avenue for receiving graduate credit is through the MCBA 740 and 741 courses offered through the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy. Participants in these courses spend two to three weeks consisting of lecture and laboratory hours on several pieces of equipment in the IRF. The goal of the courses is to provide a basic knowledge of several pieces of equipment and the types of data that can be obtained from the equipment. Laboratories are hands-on and students are expected to complete a series of basic sample preparations and to collect and analyze data from a series of assigned exercises. Flexibility in the instrumentation covered each semester exists and the courses can be modified based on the needs of the students enrolled. A brief written report is required following each unit of the course.


MCBA 740 (Fall Semester) – Structural Imaging Methods in Biomedical Research

Topics include: histological techniques, light, confocal and electron microscopy, digital imaging and ethics

MCBA 740 Syllabus

Lecture

Intro: Price

  1. Course Requirements

  2. Rules for use of IRF

  3. Specimen fixation, processing, sectioning, H&E and Trichrome stains

Lab

Schedule time in groups of 2 with Benny Davidson for training

  1. Fixation and Processing to get paraffin blocks

  2. Paraffin and Cryo sectioning

  3. H&E and Trichrome stains on tissue of choice

Lecture – Price

  1. Antigen: Antibody Interactions, Immunocytochemistry and Histochemistry

Lab

  1. Continue with above lab material – Benny

  2. Use Antigen Retrieval techniques on paraffin slides and stain slides with provided immunohistochemistry kit – Sharon Cooper

  3. Training on light microscopes and image acquisition – Dr. Fuseler

No lecture – Labor Day

Lab

  1. Continue with above lab exercises -Davidson

  2. Use of Automated staining and Image Acquisition systems – Sharon Cooper

  3. Photoshop – Jeff Davis

  4. Image Pro Plus – Jeff (Alternatively if you prefer to learn Metamorph you can work with Dr. Fuseler on this program)

Lecture – Price

  1. Antigen: Antibody interactions for histochemistry/cytochemistry

  2. Digital Imaging

Lab

  1. Finish with above materials. You should be done with all sectioning, staining and image acquisition exercises by the end of week 4.

Lecture - Price

  1. Digital Imaging Continued

  2. Confocal

Lab

  1. Specimen processing for confocal including cells, vibratome sections and triple label staining – Anna Harper

Lecture – Price

  1. Confocal Continued

Lab – Price and Anna Harper

  1. Confocal training - Price

Lecture – Price

  1. Confocal continued

Lab

  1. Confocal continued

Lecture

  1. Confocal continued

Lab

  1. Confocal continued: All confocal work should be finished by the end of Week 8

Lecture – Fuseler

  1. Live cell imaging

Lab – Fuseler

  1. Time lapse imaging

  2. Imaging calcium/pH fluxes

Lecture – Price

  1.  Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy

Lab

  1. Finish live cell imaging exercises - Fuseler

  2. Start processing specimens for SEM and TEM - Jeff

Lecture – Price

  1. Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy

Lab – Price, Fuseler and Jeff Davis

  1. Finish processing specimens for SEM and TEM - Jeff

  2. Training on SEM – Jeff

Lecture – Cell Ultrastructure

Lab

  1. Image SEM samples – Jeff

  2. Ultramicrotomy demonstration – Price

  3. Staining TEM samples – Jeff

Lecture – none

Lab

  1. Training on TEM – Price

Lecture – none

Lab

  1. SEM and TEM exercises

Finish all labs

MCBA 741 (Spring Semester) – Proteomic and Genomic Imaging Methods in Biomedical Research


Topics include: BioPlex/Luminex technology, laser capture microdissection, real time PCR, flow cytometry and cell sorting, mass spectrometry and DNA microarrays

MCBA 741 Syllabus

Lecture

Price: Intro

  1. Introduction to the IRF

  2. Rules for use of IRF

  3. Course Requirements

  4. Potts: RNA techniques: In situ hybridization, Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer, Real time PCR

Lab

Potts – Schedule time Dr. Potts for training on equipment

No lecture – MLK Day

Lab

Continue with above lab material

Lecture – Potts

RNA techniques: In situ hybridization, Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer, Real time PCR

Lab

Continue with above lab exercises

Lecture – Potts

RNA techniques: In situ hybridization, Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer, Real time PCR; Begin protein analysis lectures

Lab

Continue with above lab exercises and schedule time with Dr. Potts for protein analysis exercises

Lecture – Potts

Protein Techniques: Western blots, Phosphorimager, Bioanalyzer

Lab

Finish all above exercises for in situ hybridization, Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer and Real Time PCR

Schedule time with Dr. Potts for protein analysis exercises

Lecture - Valarmathi

Stem cell techniques

Lab

Continue with protein analysis and schedule time with Dr. V for stem cell exercises

Lecture – Singh

FACS and Cell Sorting Techniques: FC 500, FACS ARIA II, AutoMACS Pro

Lab

Continue with Stem Cell Exercises and schedule time with Dr. Udai Singh to begin cell sorting exercises

Lecture – Singh

Cell sorting techniques:

Lab

Continue with Stem Cell and cell sorting exercises

Lecture – Singh

Cell sorting techniques

Lab

Continue with and cell sorting exercises

 

Lecture – Singh

Cell sorting techniques

Lab

Continue with Stem Cell and cell sorting exercises

Lecture - Singh

Bioplex and cell sorting

Lab

Finish FACS and sorting exercises

Schedule time with Dr. Singh on BioPlex

Lecture – Singh

Bioplex and Cell Sorting

Lab – Singh

Continue with experiments on FACS and BioPlex equipment

Lecture – Creek

Microarray technology

Lab – Singh and Creek

Continue with experiments on FACS and BioPlex equipment

Schedule time with Dr. Creek for microarray exercises (equipment and lab in Pharmacy on main campus)

Lecture – Creek

Microarrays if necessary

Lab – Creek

Continue with experiments on microarray technology

No Lecture

Lab

Finish microarray exercises


MCBA 742

MCBA 720

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

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