The Analytical Core Facility hosts specialized equipment for small-molecule analysis on the UBC Vancouver campus. A partnership between the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and the Michael Smith Laboratories, this facility provides training and access to analytical equipment for academic and non-academic research projects on a fee-for-service basis. Home to both liquid and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry instruments, the facility can offer personalized project support for a variety of research needs.
The Genomics Core Facility at the Michael Smith Laboratories supports genomics research and training on the UBC campus. Equipped with NextSeq and NovaSeq X sequencing platforms and high-throughput liquid handlers, they provide scalable sequencing solutions for projects of any size. Their services range from walk-up sequencing to end-to-end workflow support, guiding researchers from biospecimens to data analysis in a PIPEDA-compliant environment. The facility specializes in single-cell and (epi)genomic analysis and offer custom molecular and bioinformatic solutions to meet unique research needs. Since 2013, the Genomics Core has empowered researchers across UBC and Canada to advance discovery through innovation in sequencing technologies.
The multi-Scale Seeing-is-Believing (mSIB) Imaging Facility is an elite, newly launched collaborative partner, directed by Dr. Sabrina Leslie. It enables quantitative analysis of the biophysical properties, interaction kinetics and dynamics of individual molecules in native conditions. It offers Dr. Leslie’s unique single-molecule, single-particle and single-cell microscopy expertise, and serves to broaden the impact of her wide-field as well as confocal microscopes which offer multi-channel fluorescence, label-free (iSCAT), and super-resolution (STORM) capabilities in controlled solution and intracellular conditions. For particle characterization, the facility is equipped with Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) equipment. Projects are handled on a case-by-case basis and bandwidth is limited.
The Proteomics and Metabolomics Core Facility (PCF) is a mass spectrometry-based platform jointly hosted between the MSL and the Life Sciences Institute. The PCF provides access to all aspects of proteomics and metabolomics to the UBC research community and beyond. This ranges from pure fee-for-service, to full collaborations, to immersive training, and to support on either end of the research process. Since 2004 the PCF has served more than a thousand clients from academia, government, and industry.
The RNA and Formulation Core (RFC) is an in vitro transcribed RNA biomanufacturing facility on the UBC Vancouver campus providing mRNA, saRNA, and circRNA manufacturing, purification, and analytical services. Through partnership with the NanoCore for formulation of RNA-lipid nanoparticles, the RFC has been providing the research community with a one-stop-shop for RNA translational medicine research since late 2023.