Founded in 2010, the Clinical Research Center (CRC) is an open public platform for medical scientific research, providing scientific research space, experimental equipments and technical support for the basic researches of different teams hospital-wide, aiming at solving a variety of clinical issues. CRC consists of core facilities and a small animal facility, whose total area is 4,000 square meters. The core facilities are located in 3 molecular and cell biology experimental regions, including cell culture laboratories, pathology lab, flow cytometry and sorting lab and microscopy imaging lab. The core facilities also provide hospital researchers with more than 500 experimental instruments, such as a dual-monochromator, a multi-detection microplate reader (Molecular Devices SpectraMax M5), several real-time PCRsystems (ABI 7500FAST, ABI stepone plus, Rotor-Gene Q), an ultra-speed centrifuge (Beckman Optima L-80XP), an automatic blood cell analyzer (SIEMENS ADVIA 2120), etc. Currently, CRC has 17 full-time technical staffs, of which 70% are doctor or master degree holders. 

Cell Culture

All the five Cell Culture rooms are in three regions. The laboratories contain more than twenty Class II type A2 biological safety cabinets and over twenty standard CO2 incubators. These cabinets provide personnel, product and environmental protection from bio-hazardous particulates. Most cell culture work is done in the biological safety cabinet. The CO2 incubators provides ideal in vitro environment. The laboratories also contain two carbon dioxide &oxygen controllers (BioSpherix Proox C21). The controllers can efficiently control oxygen and carbon dioxide in a glove box, providing the cells with hypoxia treatment. 

Flow Cytometry

The Flow Cytometry lab has established an advanced cytometry analysis and sorting facility for the use of its researchers. The lab offers cell counting, cell sorting, biomarker detection and protein engineering services, provides access to FACS/MACS instruments and has implemented workstations needed for data analysis. The lab provides researchers with 2 different types of analyzer (BD FACS Canto II; Beckman Coulter Epics XL-MCL) and 2 different types of sorter (BD FACSAria SORP; Miltenyi autoMACS PRO). It also provides researchers with training to allow self-operate on the analyzers. 

Pathology

The Pathology lab has established a complete conventional pathology analysis for researchers. The lab offers tissue samples drawing, specimen dehydration, tissue embedding, paraffin tissue section, frozen tissue section and HE staining. Also, the lab provides researchers with immunohistochemistry analysis and immunofluorescence technique analysis. It also provides researchers with training to allow self-operate for this technique. 

MicroscopyImaging

The microscopy imaging lab is a core imaging service in CRC providing the investigators in the hospital with priority access to instrumentation for microscopic image acquisition and data analysis. The lab provides Leica DMI4000B automated inverted research fluorescence microscope which is ideal for scanning cell and tissue cultures. The lab provides automated upright microscope Leica DM5500B for all transmitted and fluorescence light contrast methods including the world’s first fully automated Differential Interference Contrast (DIC). The lab also provides Leica TCS SP8 upright confocal laser microscopy with optimal photon which fully covers a broad range of requirements in confocal and multiphoton imaging with excellent overall performance.