RWMC: COBRE

Research Cores and Infrastructure

Animal Care Facility: This was renovated in 2008 and is located on the South campus, within the hospital complex and directly above the renovated space for COBRE laboratories. It is fully maintained and certified (Animal Welfare Assurance #A3175-01) and is supervised by Marisa Esteves, V.M.D., and an Office of Research Administration. The facility is utilized by virtually all the projects and pilot studies. There has been a great deal of expertise and help in animal breeding, as well as the housing of immunocompromised mice.

Small animal irradiation facility: There is a state of the art facility that is actually unique in the state. It is heavily used for mouse studies, such as those that have been described for sublethal irradiation and rescuing with bone marrow.

Clinical Research Facility: This is located on the North Campus, within the Department of Dermatology and Skin Surgery and is dedicated to translational and clinical trials for human wounds. Director: Polly Carson.

Research cores and functions

Research Core	Director(s) and personnel	Core Functions
Imaging and Immunohistochemistry	Marshall Kadin, MD,	Immunofluorescence, time lapse photography (IncuCyte sytem), IVIS system for live mice imaging, specialized immunostaining and troubleshooting
Flow/Sorting	Nicola Kouttab, PhD John Morgan, PhD	Flow cytometry, cell sorting
Molecular	Deborah Greer Mehrdad Abedi, MD	Real time PCR, cytokine measurements, other molecular quantitation, gene microarray technology
Tissue Engineering GMP facility (supported by RWMC)	Tatyana Yufit, MD Ina Zak Taehee Kwak Polly Carson	Tissue engineering constructs, stem cells
Alternative Stem Cell Core (projected, 2008)	Vincent Falanga, MD, with PhD co-directed to be recruited	Cell re-programming, cord blood, facilities for immunostaining and teratoma confirmation

Research meetings outline and topics:

Meeting Activities	Sessions/year	Topics Discussed
Monthly Research Meetings	12	General issues related to the COBRE and other research activities, which affect the institution. Equipment and facilities are addressed. Identification of needs and opportunities. Project investigators update group on progress of research.
Journal Club	12	Each month a recently published manuscript of interest to the COBRE research is reviewed by a project investigators or post-doctoral fellow. The presentation is made using PowerPoint to facilitate understanding
Outside Invited Speakers	5	Topics will include: wound healing, tissue engineering, stem cells in different organ systems. Upcoming speakers: Qian Chen, PhD, Director, COBRE in Skeletal Health and Repair at RI Hospital; Doug Hixson, PhD, Director, COBRE Center for Cancer Research Development, RI Hospital; Walter Atwood, PhD, Director, COBRE Center for Genomics and Proteomics, Brown University; James Padbury, MD, Director, CORE for Perinatal Biology, Women & Infants Hospital; Yinsheng Wan, PhD, Providence College.
Presentation of Results by Project Investigators	3	This is a very important component for presenting primary data and findings occurring within the individual projects and pilot studies
Presentation by Senior Investigators and Core Directors	6	Core directors give update on technologies, new findings. Senior investigators provide state of the art lectures on their area of expertise

Twice a year, the COBRE has regular on-site meetings with the External Advisory Committee (EAC). During these visits junior investigators (projects and pilot studies) deliver a summary of their research and recent findings. EAC members have also taken turns in giving presentations in their areas of expertise at the time of the semiannual visits.