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Facilities
Molecular Structure Facility Location: 1414 GBSF Dear Molecular Structure Facility Users: The Molecular Structure Facility (MSF) has been focusing on and improving its biological mass spectrometry capabilities in the past two years in order to meet the campus needs for proteomics. The MSF is happy to announce that a new proteomics technology platform has been acquired and is ready to serve the campus researchers as a routine endeavor. Shotgun Proteomics This is also called Multidimensional Protein Identification Technology (Mudpit) as John Yates coined it (i.e., Anal. Chem. 2001, 73, 5683-5690), which combines multidimensional liquid chromatography (LC) with electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry. The two dimensional LC method combines a strong cation-exchange (SCX) resin and reverse phase resin (C18) either in a biphasic column or as an off-line separation (SCX). This shotgun proteomics is the tool for truly global-scale high throughput proteome analysis. The MSF has applied Mudpit successfully in analyzing human hair proteomes and membrane associated proteins of a Mycoplasma in the course of its optimization and acquisition. We can analyze the complex mixture of proteins in a biological system (proteome) either as 1-D nanospray LC-MS/MS (<100 proteins) or 2-D nanospray LC-MS/MS (>100 proteins). This high-throughput protein identification with high-sensitivity using Mudpit is largely confined to organisms whose genome sequence databases are available or to organisms that substantial DNA sequence information is available in public databases. Please contact us (Y. M. Lee, director: <mailto:ymlee@ucdavis.edu>ymlee@ucdavis.edu or 752-4328) if you want learn more about our Mudpit technology and its application to your research. One mass spectrometry specialist (Dr. Y. J. Lee: yojlee@ucdavis.edu or 752-6272) at the MSF has been dedicating to this technology and ready to assist you. Other MS-based Proteomics Development
Please visit our website (http://msf.ucdavis.edu/) to find out more about the MSF capabilities and the facility services. Young Moo Lee, Ph.D.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility Location: MS1-D The NMR Facility provides qualified researchers in the biological, medical, and physical sciences access to state-of-the-art NMR instrumentation for spectroscopy and imaging. At present the Facility operates six spectrometers of varying purposes and capabilities, five of which are housed in Building MS1-D. Two horizontal magnet bore spectrometers are utilized for in vivo spectroscopy and imaging of small animals, imaging of materials, and in vitro spectroscopy of perfused organs. Three vertical bore spectrometers are used primarily for solution studies of biomolecules, with an additional vertical bore instrument for in vitro biological studies. All of the spectrometers are multinuclear and a large variety of high resolution, surface, and imaging coils are available for use. The Facility also has SUN 3, SPARC, and SGI computers for off-line data processing and molecular modeling. Listed below are the NMR spectrometers with their field strengths and primary use.
Taqman® Service Location: 3108 Tupper Hall Since the introduction of quantitative PCR, this laboratory method has witnessed rapid development and improvements. Quantitation has been achieved by using internal standards such as competitors or mimics, by limiting dilution, and additive PCR. Methods to measure and quantify amplified products range from the conventional agarose gel-based method to ELISA, video image analysis, HPLC detection and chemiluminescence using ruthenium-labeled internal probes. As true for any methodology, quantitative PCR is in continuous progress. The next generation of PCR methods will be increasingly automated and standardized. The real-time TaqMan® PCR is the springboard to the next-generation PCR (1). A unique feature of DNA polymerases - the 5' to 3' nuclease activity - allowed the development of TaqMan® probes (2). These probes are labeled with an energy-adsorbing quencher on the 3' end and a reporter fluorescent dye at the 5' end. During the annealing/extension phase, the probe hybridizes to the amplicons and cleavage of the probe by the DNA polymerase results in increased reporter and decreased quencher fluorescence due to the loss of spatial proximity of the two dyes. Using an ABI PRISM® 7700 Sequence Detector (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA), monitoring of amplified products is possible in a real-time fashion. The increase of reporter fluorescence is proportional to the amount of amplicons and therefore proportional to the initial amount of targets. Increase in reporter fluorescence is detectable during the exponential phase of amplification leading to a dynamic range for quantitation of 8 orders of magnitude. This systems detectes DNA and RNA targets (as one-tube RT-TaqMan-PCR) with a sensitivity of 5 molecules. Our experience in real-time TaqMan® PCR and RT-PCR applications allows us to support researchers in choosing the right targets for projects, and to give support in the design, and in the basic optimization of TaqMan® PCR systems for research purposes. Services include:
California Institute of Food and Agriculture Research Location: 250 Cruess Hall Laboratory FunctionSupported and associated with CIFAR are several instrument capabilities, including magnetic resonance imaging, membrane separation, silicon graphics, and rheology. Instrumentation AvailableMagnetic Resonance Imaging Food Research Facility
A 45 cm bore 2 testa NMR imaging system and simulated process equipment such as: drying tunnel, air-blast freezer, single screw plastic extruder, holding tube (under construction twin-screw extruder, scraped surface heat exchanger, rheometers and varius extrusion dies). Membrane Systems A variety of membrane units (system test unit for NF, RO UF, MF-polymeric and ceramic membranes, including 50-60 membranes) is located either in a 48' trailer or in the Cruess Hall Pilot Plant. Silicon Graphics Indigo computer workstation The computer incorporates a R40000 processor and special graphics hardware in addition to software provided by Sandia National Laboratories. Rheology Rotational, capillary, parallel plate and oscillatory rheometers.
Antibody Engineering Laboratory Location: Everson Hall #210-205 The staff of the Antibody Engineering Laboratory (ABEL) conduct research in producing recombinant antibodies in vitro in surrogate hosts using plasmid, bacteriophage and baculovirus expressions vector systems. Recombinant antibodies are made against a variety of compounds with emphasis on environmental toxins and biomarkers of (human) exposure to toxic substances. The ABEL laboratory contains an automated ELISA plate washer and a PC-aided ELISA plate reader. ABEL provides facilities and guidance to Superfund investigators and interested campus investigators for producing polyclonal, monoclonal and recombinant antibodies. Currently there is no recharge procedure. Collaborative proposals are welcome. Instrumentation AvailableThe laboratory is equipped with the instruments necessary for conducting research in molecular biology and immunoassay technology. The available equipment include: Thermal cycler (MJResearch), electroporator (Bio-Rad), phase contrast microscope (Nikon) with photographic accessories, microplate washer (Dynatech), microplate reader and software (Molecular Devices), class II biosafety hood (Baker), water-jacketed incubator (Forma), low-temperature freezers, cryobiological (liquid nitrogen ) cell storage system (Locator 4, Thermolyne), environmental shakers (New Brunswick), apparatus and power supplies for electrophoresis, documentation and transfer of nucleic acids and proteins (Bio-Rad), and desk-top computers.
Electron Microscopy Location: 108, 110, 112, 116, 167 Engineering II The electron microscopy component of Materials Science Central Facilities includes scanning electron microscopes, transmission electron microscopes and even an atomic force microscope, plus, staff to support these instruments and the faculty, students and researchers who use them. It is also complemented by specimen preparation equipment and other analytical instruments (optical microscopy, thermal analysis, powder x-ray diffraction) which are also part of Central Facilities, making it one arm of this department's growing research and teaching infrastructure. But this is not merely a departmental facility. It is here to provide electron microscopy and microanalytical support for anyone on campus who finds our instruments appropriate for their research and teaching needs. Instrumentation Available
Equipment Located in Specific DepartmentsBotany: SEM with Cryostage Geology: Electron microprobe; SEM; Paleomagnetic; XRD; XRF Additional Instrumentation - available by individual arrangement.
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)
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Location: TB 161
Director: Ted Wandzilak
Phone: 530-752-0320
Email: trwandzilak@ucdavis.edu
The lab is designed to provide to investigators certain common but expensive laboratory equipment and facilities at a minimal recharge rate. The scheduling of the equipment can be arranged through the technologist in charge. After hours use is available, contact technologist. Users are expected to have been trained in the use of this equipment, and if the equipment is damaged due to improper training, the user will be expected to provide the funds for the necessary repairs.
| Equipment Recharge | |
| Sorvall RC5C Centrifuge | $4.00/hr |
| Sorvall RC-3B Centrifuge | $4.00/hr |
| Beckman L5-75B Ultracentrifuges (2) | $4.00/hr |
| Beckman L5-5000 TD Liquid Scintillation Counter | $4.00/hr |
| Beckman LS-8000 Liquid Scintillation Counter | $4.00/hr |
| Packard Gamma Counter (Cobra) | $4.00/hr |
| Gilford Clinical Chemistry Analyzer System 103 | $4.00/hr |
| Virtis Freezemobile 12 Lyopholizer | $4.00/hr |
| Shimadzu UV 160 Spectrophometer | $5.00/hr |
| LKB 2202 Ultroscan Laser Densitometer | $5.00/hr |
| Mettler DMA 46 Densitometer | $5.00/hr |
| Heat Systems Inc. Sonicator | $5.00/hr |
| Perkin Elmer Lambda 38 UV/Vis Spectrophometer | $5.00/hr |
| Titer Tek Elisa Reader | $5.00/hr |
| Becton Dickinson FAC Scan Flow Cytometry Sys | $45.00/hr |
| Pharmacia LKB Beta Plate Scanner System | $45.00/hr |
| Cold Room | $5.00 container/month |
| Revco Ultralow Freezer | $5.00 container/month |
| Thelco Drying Oven | |
| Hotpoint Water Bath | |
| Mettler P1200 Balance | |
| Dry Ice -- Crushed Ice | |
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Location: ARS-J-10
Director: Ed Hinz
Telephone: 530-752-3291
Email: eahinz@ucdavis.edu
The Health Sciences Electronic Shop is equipped to repair and calibrate a variety of biological laboratory items. Such as spectrophotometers, scintillation counters, gamma counters, chart recorders, oscilloscopes, centrifuges, and physiological monitoring apparatus, histological equipment, all general laboratory equipment including power supplies, electrophorsis apparatus, can be fabricated to order and specification. In addition, computer cabling of all types is available. Other non-electronic jobs will be provided on a "time available" basis, etc.
Recharges are on a time and materials basis. Currently, the hourly rates for the shop, as approved by the Campus Rate Committee, is $41.00 per hour.
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Location: 1429 Tupper Hall
Director: Grete N. Adamson
Telephone: 530 752-3165
E-Mail: gnadamson@ucdavis.edu
School of Medicine electron microscopy laboratory contains complete facilities for transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All users of the facility are trained and monitored in proper operation procedures by personnel of the EM Laboratory. Users have the option of using the facility themselves or have the work done by personnel of the Electron Microscopy Lab. After users are fully trained, a check-out key is available for after-hours and weekends. In addition to electron microscopy, the lab contains a Zeiss Photomicroscope, and a Leitz epifluorescence microscope, and complete 35 mm slide preparation and duplication services.
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Location: 3441, 3448 Tupper Hall
Director: Maggie Chiu
Telephone: 530-752-7206
The School of Medicine Immunohistopathology Laboratory can produce frozen, plastic and paraffin sections for routine, special and immunoperoxidase staining. To facilitate rapid turn around, the lab is equipped with automated stainers. Services performed by the lab can be on a recharge or grant-contract basis. Special projects are welcome.
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Location: TB 162, West
Director: Merrill Gershwin
Telephone: 530-752-2884
E-Mail: megershwin@ucdavis.edu
The UC Davis Flow Cytometry Laboratory has purchased a Becton Dickinson FACScan Flow Cytometer System. The instrument is capable of simultaneous 5 parameter and three-color analytical flow cytometry, including double discrimination. The system includes a Consort 32 work station for the FACScan and connected to the lab PC compatible 386, 20 MHz system. The flow cytometry lab presently has Pheonix Flow System's, PC based software for analysis of flow cytometry data, including Multi-cycle, Multi-2D, Multi-time and Acqulist allowing flexibility, manulation and excellent laser print graphics of processed data.
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Location: Room 3435, Tupper Hall
Director: Carol Oxford
Telephone: 530-752-7205
Telephone: cloxford@ucdavis.edu
Our mission is to provide access to expertise and instrumentation for analytical flow cytometry, cell sorting, and laser scanning cytometry to all researchers at UC Davis, including members of the UC Davis Cancer Center and to biotech companies and other research organizations. The objectives of the Shared Resource are to provide cell sorting and analytical cytometry to support research, to provide consultation about appropriate experimental design and data analysis, to educate users and potential users about routine as well as cutting-edge approaches to using these techniques, to facilitate interactions among researchers using these techniques, and to stimulate development of new approaches for basic and clinical studies of cancer, as well as cellular and molecular biology.
The facility houses five instruments in the Davis Core in Tupper Hall and one in the satellite facility in Research III in Sacramento. The DakoCytomation MoFlo high-speed cell sorter provides three laser excitation and 11 color detection. Up to four populations of cells can be simultaneously sorted at speeds of up to 25,000 per second. The BD LSRII provides digital acquisition of 12 flluorescence parameters. The BD FACScan with the Cytek upgrade provides dual laser excitation for 5 color detection. The Beckman Couter KL provides 4 color detection from a single 488nm excitation line. The Laser Scanning Cytometer allows visualization of fluorescence on a microscope from 3 laser lines.
The lab operates on a recharge basis and training is available for unassisted operation of all instruments.
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Location: 115 Life Sciences Addition
Supervisor: Lance Burton
Telephone: 530-752-1906
Email: ljburton@ucdavis.edu
This newly-constructed plant Controlled Environment Facility (CEF) was funded by a joint venture between the National Science Foundation (Special Projects Program, Division of Biological Instrumentation and Resources) and the Davis campus of the University of California. Our CEF is the second largest in North America, housing 57 conviron units capable of providing a wide range of environmental conditions. All units are controlled by a computer network, enabling the precise regulation and monitoring of essential parameters. The faculty and students now have control over light intensity (low-to-hear full sunlight and adjustable to simulate a normal day), photoperiod, diurnal temperatures (ranging from -10o to 45oC+), relative humidity (daytime ranges from 20% to 90%), CO2 composition of the atmosphere, as well as control over water and nutrient delivery to the soil.
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Location: Room 1-6, Hunt-Viehmeyer Supplementary Building
Supervisor: David Paige
Telephone: 530-752-6011
Email: dfpaige@ucdavis.edu
During the 1970's, Vegetable Crops and Agronomy and Range Science Departments, with assistance from the College through Plant Sciences SMA and the Controlled Environment Chambers Facility Committee, developed Rooms 1-5 of the Hunt-Viehmeyer Supplementary Building into a plant growth chamber facility. This facility houses a total of 25 chambers with either fluorescent-incandescent or high intensity lighting. All chambers are available for nominal rental rates for teaching or research uses to the University at large.
Currently there are 20 chambers of 15 sq. ft. in the facility and 5 chambers of 35 sq. ft. Each chamber provides diurnal control of temperature, humidity, and light. In addition, facilities are available for CO2 control, plant watering, and data logging.
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Location: Vet-Med Animal Resource (Old Davis Rd.)
Director: Dale Brooks
Telephone: (530) 752-1390
Email: dlbrooks@ucdavis.edu
A component of the School of Medicine and School of Veterinary Medicine the ARS manages animal and health programs for research and teaching animals used in School programs except those in the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital, the Feline Nutrition and Pet Care Center and the California Primate Research Center. These activities include: procurement, maintenance, preventive medical procedures, veterinary services including diagnostic, therapeutic and special research procedures as required, and humane termination and disposal. All these services are available to other schools and colleges at UCD and others to a limited extent.
Programs of the ARS provide for consultative and collaborative research and clinical teaching needs for professional, graduate clinical and graduate professional programs of the School. The various animal colonies and their systems of husbandry and care, required for the service component of the Unit, provide the clinical teaching situations for the care and colony management specifications of clinical research and teaching programs. The ongoing preventive medicine, diagnostic, and therapy programs of the ARS provide the basis for the clinical medical program. Personnel associated with this Unit can respond to inquires about laboratory animal husbandry and medicine, give talks on these subjects, and advise producers, dealers, state and federal agencies, other academic institutions, and the public on matters relating to the care and use of laboratory animals for teaching and research.
ARS is accredited by the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care and licensed by the US Department of Agriculture under federal animal welfare laws.
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Transgenic mouse technology is a powerful experimental tool for studying complex biological phenomena. The Department of Medical Pathology Transgenic Mouse Program provides a valuable resource for established investigators, as well as a training opportunity for graduate and postdoctoral students.
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Location: Tupper Hall, Room 3330
Director: David Morris
Technician: Getachew Sequar
Telephone: 530-752-3081 or 530-752-6785
Email: dwmorris@ucdavis.edu, gtsequar@ucdavis.edu
The Transgenic Mouse Laboratory (TML) is housed in the Department of Medical Pathology and dedicated primarily to studies of breast and prostate cancer. Collaborative studies with other campus investigators are also encouraged, particularly in the areas of carcinogenesis, immunology, retrovirology, and gene therapy. Recharge services are performed on a space available basis. Operational expenses for collaborative and recharge projects are negotiated for each individual project.
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Location: Center of Comparison Medicine
Director: Robert Cardiff
Technician: Judy Walls
Telephone: 530 752-7206 or 752-7913
Technician: rdcardiff@ucdavis.edu, jewalls@ucdavis.edu
The Transgenic Mouse Histopathology Service (TMHS) provides comprehensive analyses of transgenic mouse phenotypes to investigators world-wide. Fixed transgenic tissues submitted to the TMHS are embedded, sectioned, and stained with H&E for histological analysis. Written pathology reports are prepared for each case. Collaborative studies are encouraged. All work is funded by recharge fees.
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Location: Meyer Hall
Directors: James Murray
Telephone: 530-752-3179
E-Mail: jdmurray@ucdavis.edu
A micromanipulation station and lab animal facilities in the Department of Animal Science for the production of transgenic animals is run by Gary Anderson and Jim Murray. In addition to their projects involving transgenic mice is an involvement in projects to produce large transgenic animals including pigs and cattle.
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Location: Life Sciences
Contact: Bethany Daniels
Telephone: 530-752-5824
E-Mail: bfdaniels@ucdavis.edu
In addition to documented facilities the new Life Sciences Addition has a number of specialized central facilities to support biotechnology related research.
Common-area spaces include the following specialized facilities:
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Location: 222 Briggs Hall
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There are several sequencing facilities on campus including:
Division of Biological Sciences
DNA Sequencing Core facility
0208 Storer Hall M-F 8:30-4:30
http://dnaseq.ucdavis.edu
530-754-9259
UCD Division of Biological Sciences (DBS) Automated DNA Sequencing Facility is committed to providing quality sequencing and service to all University of California campus research facilities. The facility utilizes the Applied Bios stems 3730 and two 3100 Genetic analyzers for sample processing. Sheryl Bernauer, lab supervisor. E-mail: slbernauer@ucdavis.edu or dnaseq@ucdavis.edu
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Location: Storer (5th Floor)
Telephone: 530-752-5725
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Location: County Rd. 98/ Hutchison Drive
Director: Dallas Hyde
Telephone: 530-752-0447
E-mail: crprc@ucdavis.edu
The California Regional Primate Research Center (CRPRC) was established by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a research resource for investigators when the nonhuman primate is the animal model of choice. Nonhuman primates are unique by nature of their close physiologic and anatomic similarities to humans. Their value as animal models for research on human health problems is particularly evident from studies on the pathophysiologic effects of toxic compounds, infectious agents and alteredenvironments. Studies concerned with the teratogenicity and pharmacokinetics of various drugs are prime examples. A variety of diseases occurring spontaneously in nonhuman primates are nearly identical to those of humans. These models provide rare opportunities for investigations on disease mechanisms. The CRPRC is dedicated to providing the scientific community with a unique resource for research endeavors in a variety of disciplines. These investigations will ultimately provide an understanding of specific disease mechanisms and improved health through preventive medicine.
The mission of the CRPRC is to conduct human health-related research using nonhuman primates as models. The center also maintains a breeding program for macaques that provides the greatest degree of care and humane handling and conducts research in primate biology to meet the requirements of the regional scientific community. CRPRC research teams concentrate on five major areas:
The CRPRC was established in June 1962 at the University of California at Davis (UC Davis). Then known as the National Center for Primate Biology, it was the last of the seven regional primate research centers organized by NIH and was designated as a national facility to serve as a resource for knowledge about the care and use of nonhuman primates. By maintaining a productive breeding colony of healthy animals whose life history was known and by identifying the conditions which would lead to their most productive use in studies, the CRPRC advanced the overall care of primates used in research.
The change in title to the California Regional Primate Research Center occurred in 1972. The NIH Primate Research Advisory Committee recommended that the original mission of the center be modified by developing a more discrete and specific research mission. The focus of the CRPRC then changed from studies on procurement, housing, breeding husbandry and broad biologic features of nonhuman primates to research on human health-related problems.
CRPRC research efforts are divided into five major areas all of which are related to the effects of environmental influences.
Behavioral biologists study the orderliness of groups and social order changes that occurs within groups. Their research involves experimental manipulations as well as normative studies of undisturbed groups, using behavioral and physiological assessments of social regulatory processes. This group's research includes the effects of within-sex relations on breeding readiness and reproduction in squirrel monkeys, the effects of early social experience on regulatory processes, and behavioral and physiological bases for differences between species in social organizations.
The developmental and reproductive biology team seeks to establish nonhuman primates as models for human reproduction, specifically pregnancy, infertility, and contraception. This team conducts research on the physiology and cell biology of sperm in the female reproductive tract, the cellular and molecular biology of fertilization and embryo development, reproductive tract differentiation, pre- and post-natal effects of exposure to chemical and physical agents, and in utero treatment for gut and lung disease associated with prematurity. Areas of interest also include reproductive environmental hazards in the workplace, technologies which will foster the next generation of contraceptives involving immunization against gametes, and transplanting hematopoietic stem cells prenatally as "fetal therapy" for inherited defects.
For more than twenty years, the CRPRC also has hosted a large, UC Davis interdisciplinary pulmonary research team that studies the biology of both healthy and diseased lungs. Researchers analyze the structure and function of lungs from several species, examine metabolic functions of isolated lung cells, and study respiratory diseases in various animal models and in human tissue to ensure the clinical relevance of animal models. Their research includes lung collagen accompanying pulmonary fibrosis, gene expression in cells and tissues from cystic fibrosis patients, tracheobronchial mucus components in animals exposed to toxic agents, the effects of air pollutants on animals' lungs and respiratory system, and the role of activated neutrophils as a response to lung damage.
CRPRC researchers were pioneers in demonstrating that simian retrovirus (SRV) was responsible for almost all of the spontaneously occurring AIDS-like diseases in macaques. In addition to identifying SRV, CRPRC researchers produced a vaccine that protects monkeys from a disease which causes AIDS-like symptoms. The emphasis has now shifted to the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) because of its close relationship to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Rhesus monkeys are used as an HIV model on research projects involving immunopathology, vaccine development, and anti-viral therapy. The strength of this group's research is its multi-disciplinary approach. Researchers from the schools of medicine and veterinary medicine and the biological sciences division form the group's core. The group hopes to develop macaque retrovirus models for use in gene therapy studies.
The CRPRC has the advantage of being located on the same campus as a leading school of veterinary medicine. The dean of the veterinary medicine school at UC Davis serves as principal investigator on the NCRR base operating grant. Close ties with the medical school, colleges of agricultural and environmental sciences, letters and science and other campus research units greatly enhance the effectiveness and productivity of the CRPRC's research programs.
Most of the 127 core and collaborative faculty, many of whom have joint appointments with other academic departments, receive research support from sources other than the base grant. Faculty with joint appointments teach courses in primate, laboratory and zoological medicine, which are part of the veterinary medicine curriculum. These jointly held appointments encourage broad UC Davis faculty participation in center-hosted research.
The CRPRC is located on a 300-acre tract of land about three miles from the center of the main campus. The main CRPRC facility contains a conference room, lecture hall, computer facility, animal quarters, nursery, hospital, offices and many research laboratories.
Providing social and environmental enrichment to all animals is a high priority of the CRPRC staff. Indoor housing for single and paired animals, for example, typically are wall-mounted cages configured to enable animals to see each other. Other enrichment for animals housed indoors include forage boards with food enrichment, and toys.
The CRPRC also maintains varied types of outdoor caging from its pioneering work in maintaining nonhuman primates in enclosures called corn cribs. The standard corncrib with its pea gravel base uses tiered perches and plastic barrels to provide protection from extreme weather. This housing has proved suitable for harems and excellent for juvenile groups. The original corn crib design has been upgraded by the addition of swings and ferris wheels made from easily cleaned PVC piping. Perches heated with warm water and enclosures with forced warm air enable young animals and cynomolgus macaques, which require a more controlled environment, to be housed outdoors.
Seventeen half-acre corrals house most of the center's breeding colony. These corrals have been upgraded by elevated A-frame shelters, log runs, swings, plastic barrels, sunscreens, covered feeding pads and a variety of pole and corner perches. Each corral contains between 60 and 80 animals living in socially stable groups in a semi-natural environment. Animals are closely monitored and extensive records are kept on social interactions in order to develop a better understanding of the animals' social needs. The CRPRC has been self-sufficient in providing rhesus monkeys for research since the late 1970s. Recent animal needs for AIDS research has led the center to further expand its domestic breeding programs.
The primate colony consists of more than 3,300 non-human primates of five species. Rhesus monkeys are the predominant species. The animals are maintained by a trained animal care staff.
The CRPRC provides to qualified investigators a variety of services including diagnostic and laboratory services, pathology support, reference services, data services, central supply and electron microscopy.
The staff also maintains a centralized program to produce quality research service and support to investigators using the facility. Veterinarians and veterinary health technicians render such services providing intensive clinical care of individual animals, monitoring the colony to identify trends in disease frequency, and identifying diseases which can be used as disease models. They also conduct a variety of research procedures including experimental surgeries, catherizations, endoscopic techniques and other specialized procedures. In addition, researchers are supported by the Clinical Laboratory staff that provides diagnostic support.
The animal care staff provides basic husbandry services including feeding, cleaning, and morning health surveillance. They assist investigators with research projects and procedures such as blood sampling, chairing and restraint.
The Research Services staff provides technical assistance to investigators including project management, budget preparation, animal treatments and data collection. Research Services tracks animal use and all animal assignments.
The CRPRC's biological specimen program provides investigators nationwide with a variety of samples including tissue, blood and urine from nonhuman primates.
The CRPRC also supports a quality assurance program which oversees husbandry and research activities within the guidelines of Good Laboratory Practices. The existence of the quality assurance program allows investigators to conduct Food and Drug Administration approved studies.
The Data Services Unit develops and maintains computerized systems and databases for research, administration and colony management. The unit assists investigators in all aspects of data acquisition and analysis. Colony records include a database of demographic, health, and reproductive information on all colony animals including detailed records of conception, birth and abortion rates that help CRPRC staff better manage the colony.
The Electron Microscopy Facility has the expertise and equipment necessary to conduct light microscopic, ultrastructural, morphometrics, and analytical evaluations of experimental cells and tissues.
The CRPRC staff annually averages 200 published articles. In addition to this important method for disseminating research results, many research findings are presented at national and international scientific meetings.
The CRPRC also hosts scientists from laboratories nationwide and abroad. Foreign scientists from China, Russia, and other countries have worked extended periods with CRPRC investigators in order to share techniques and knowledge.
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The UC Davis Center for Comparative Medicine (CCM) is a cooperative, interdisciplinary research center co-sponsored by the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. The CCM research mission is to investigate host-agent interactions and develop intervention strategies for persistent infectious diseases common to humans and animals. Society faces immediate problems in regard to persistent infectious diseases, which are becoming more urgent as world population grows, people are live longer and infectious and zoonotic diseases emerge at an increasing rate. Persistent infections/diseases, including viral (e.g. acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus, cytomegalovirus, papilloma viruses, etc.), bacterial (e.g. Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, tuberculosis, etc.), and parasitic (e.g. malaria, babesiosis, metazoan parasitism, etc.) are shared by both humans and animals or induced by closely related agents in humans and animals. Investigation of these diseases, which have enormous impact on society, will benefit both humans and animals. The CCM teaching mission is to promote academic excellence in comparative medical research.
The primary concept of Comparative Medicine, captured in its name, implies that human and animal diseases share common features that can be exploited to develop strategies toward prevention and therapy. The UC Davis Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine have a rich background of collaborative research into genetic diseases, cancer, organ transplantation, and infectious diseases, and the CCM is the embodiment of this "One Medicine" concept. Another unifying theme of the CCM, persistent infectious diseases common to humans and animals, represents one of the most important problems of our times. CCM research programs thus encompass several principal areas:
These areas interdigitate extensively with other research programs on the UC Davis campus, including the California Regional Primate Research Center, the Center for Vector-Borne Disease Research, the Cancer Center, the Center for Neuroscience, the Mouse Biology Program, and the Transgenic Biology Program. Collaborative interactions are expected to expand to additional centers and programs on the UC Davis campus and beyond.
Current CCM-related research involves human, simian and feline immunodeficiency viruses; human, simian, bovine, feline and murine leukemia viruses; human and simian cytomegaloviruses; human and simian papillomaviruses; human and animal Lyme disease; human and animal ehrlichiosis; and murine gene targeting for animal model development. The scope of the research program will expand as CCM faculty recruitment progresses. CCM faculty members possess a broad range of complementary and interdisciplinary expertise that should lead to novel approaches to prevention and therapy of persistent infectious diseases that have proven otherwise refractory to clinical intervention by conventional means. CCM faculty members also provide expertise beyond infectious disease models, including laboratory animal sciences and model development.
CCM interdisciplinary research programs provide a rich academic environment for teaching at the professional, graduate and post-graduate levels within the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. Opportunities are available for professional students from both schools to gain research experience in CCM faculty-sponsored research laboratories, Ph.D. training in graduate programs based in both schools, and postdoctoral training in CCM faculty-sponsored research laboratories. CCM faculty members are also involved in didactic teaching at the professional and graduate levels in their academic departments within both schools. This diverse teaching program, which interdigitates throughout both schools, is intended to attract and train high quality candidates to the disciplines of comparative medicine, infectious disease research, and laboratory animal sciences.
A $14 million CCM building, now under construction, is located adjacent to the California Regional Primate Research Center and will be completed by June, 1998. The CCM consists of a two-story laboratory/office with a total of 17,605 ASF, incorporating 34 research modules of 300 ASF, and an additional 22 rooms for laboratory support, biocontainment and shared instrumentation. The building has 15 faculty and administrative offices and a reception area. The animal facility comprises 8,000 ASF of biocontainment and pathogen free holding rooms and a murine gene targeting core laboratory that serves both the CCM and the campus-wide Mouse Biology Program. The CCM animal facility is an extension of the existing California Regional Primate Research Center animal facility. The Center for Vector-Borne Disease Research is planned for construction adjacent to the CCM.
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Location: 1544 Newton Court
Director: Edward Jones
Telephone: 530-757-8708
The UC Davis Center for Neuroscience draws from a wide variety of resources to conduct its teaching and research programs. Contributing to this interdisciplinary approach are Center faculty members, students, and collaborators who represent 13 academic departments and sections on the main campus and a number of off-campus sites. These sites include the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, the Veterans Administration Health Care System Outpatient Clinic in Martinez, other hospitals in northern California, and other universities worldwide. In addition, visiting faculty members from throughout the world bring outstanding talent to the Center's programs.
Research at the Center ranges from single-cell recordings and studies of neuronal populations in isolation to studies of human perception, attention, memory, language, and the nature of consciousness. The center places special emphasis on combining information obtained from different brain-imaging techniques, including fMRI, PET, and ERPs, to develop improved methods to treat brain injury and disease.
The Doctoral Program in Neuroscience offers interdisciplinary training from molecular to cognitive neuroscience. A major strength of the program is its breadth, not only across traditional departments, but across schools as well. Nearly half of the 32 faculty members are scientists from departments in the medical and veterinary schools. Others are from the Departments of Psychology; Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior; Evolution and Ecology; and Theoretical Dynamics. Students may declare a special emphasis in cognitive neuroscience. Faculty cohesion is accomplished through associations with the Center for Neuroscience on the Davis campus. The unique blend of faculty provides many options in training and research in the program.
Graduate program activities are coordinated between the Center for Neuroscience and the Graduate Group in Neuroscience — the faculty members who teach t he program. A major goal of the program is to prepare students for careers as research scientists in diverse areas of neuroscience. The graduate group comprises approximately 30 faculty members from both academic and clinical departments and sections. The research interests of the faculty include cognitive neuroscience, from psychology to human pathology; channel and receptor molecular neurobiology; synaptic physiology and the cellular dynamics of neural circuits; cortical neurophysiology and mammalian central nervous system neurophysiology; the development of nervous systems; and the neural basis of behavior. (Most of these research programs are supported by extramural grants to individual faculty.) By offering a wide variety of research programs, the group increases the likelihood of a student selecting a research laboratory that suits their own interests and career goals. The Center is currently housed in two buildings totaling 28,500 square feet in the UC Davis Research Park. It receives financial support from private and public organizations, including the University of California, National Institutes of Health, Human Frontiers Science Program, Veterans Administration, James S. McDonnell Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Ester and Joseph Klingenstein Fund, ARCS Foundation, National Science Foundation, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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Location: 4501 X Street, Sacramento, CA 95817
Director: Ralph W. deVere White
Telephone: 916-734-5800
E-mail: cancer.center@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
People with cancer benefit from advanced diagnostic and treatment methods provided by a multidisciplinary team of oncology specialists at the UC Davis Cancer Center. Here, physicians can interact and consult easily in one location with other cancer specialists in all different areas of expertise which optimizes thoughtful patient care and the development of creative solutions to a patient's clinical problems. Also, if necessary, patients can be admitted to UC Davis Medical Center and continue treatment with their Cancer Center physicians, preserving established medical relationships. This continuity of care lends strong support to patients in their recovery process.
UC Davis Medical Center's striking, four-story cancer care building opened in March 1991, in the heart of the medical campus near downtown Sacramento. The facility incorporates a warm, comfortable environment for patients from all over Northern California to be seen and treated at a single, convenient location.
The Cancer Center is a key program of the UC Davis Medical Center, one of Northern California's leading academic medical institutions, and one of five such academic medical centers in the University of California system. The 485-bed hospital is the main clinical education site for the UC Davis School of Medicine. The teaching hospital also serves as the only critical trauma center for the Sacramento-Sierra area and is the principal referral hospital for advanced care for the five million residents in a 32-county region stretching north to the Oregon border and east to Nevada.
Cancer treatment teams at UC Davis are led by physicians specializing in hematology and medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology, and pathology. These teams include specially trained oncology nurses, radiation therapy technologists, physicists, laboratory personnel, pharmacists, social workers, dietitians, and many others who plan treatments for complete cancer care. This interdisciplinary link creates unique depth to the team focus on patient-centered cancer diagnosis and research, treatment and healing, education and support. Several multidisciplinary programs operate within the Cancer Center: urologic, breast, thoracic, and gynecologic cancers, as well as malignancies of the blood such as leukemia and lymphoma. Other programs include a fine needle aspiration biopsy service, a cancer pain clinic, and a bone marrow transplantation service.
Through an extensive clinical trials program at the UC Davis Cancer Center, patients gain immediate access to new and promising treatment regimens for different types of cancer. Numerous clinical trials of national and international significance evaluate investigation drugs and diagnostic treatment techniques.
Many of these studies are conducted in cooperation with the Southwestern Oncology Group, the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, the Gynecologic Oncology Group and the National Cancer Institute. Cooperative group research may help many cancer patients enjoy a more positive future. Other research is unique to the Center, having been developed by UC Davis faculty out of their expertise in cancer diagnoses and treatment.
Quality patient care at the UC Davis Cancer Center is shaped by faculty physicians who are leading teachers and researchers in their fields. UC Davis Cancer Center faculty physicians pursue multiple missions: teaching tomorrow's physicians, conducting biomedical research, and providing comprehensive, advanced care for cancer patients. These multiple roles keep Cancer Center physicians on the leading edge of their specialties.
Representing different specialties, these physicians share their expertise with colleagues to benefit all of the Cancer Center's patients.
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Location: Hutchison Hall (5th floor)
Director: George Bruening
Telephone: 530-752-6694
Director: gebruening@ucdavis.edu
Founded in early 1991 at the University of California, Davis, the Center for Engineering Plants for Resistance Against Pathogens is one of twenty-five National Science Foundation supported Science and Technology Centers throughout the U.S.
Our mission is to understand the genetic basis for a plant's capability to resist pest attack, and to use the tools of modern plant biotechnology to enhance those abilities in important food crops. The effective ability of a plant to resist pathogen (pest) attack through it's own natural means can reduce the reliance upon chemical and mechanical forms of pest control.
In addition to our plant research, we have a strong education and outreach program to high schools in both our locality and throughout the country. Furthermore we have several education programs for science teachers, and those groups currently underrepresented in the plant sciences.
Research basic issues of science that are too long-term, multidisciplinary, and high risk to be conducted by single investigator grants. Develop innovative education and outreach programs to groups underrepresented in science. Establish an interactive network with private industry to facilitate rapid commercialization of new technologies.
The central concepts of the Susceptibility thrust concern the role of common signal transduction pathways and ordered metabolic changes in the death of plant cells due to pathogen-induced stress. The metabolic bases of cell death, associated with necrotrophic disease (susceptibility), the hypersensitive reaction (a form of resistance), and natural senescence, currently are unknown. However, it is known that plant gene expression is required for these processes. The goal of the Susceptibility Thrust is to trace the elements of one or more pathways from initial interaction with the pathogen through to the demise of plant cells, particularly their death under programmed control of the plant genome.
Develop the technology to detect and document response-specific changes, particularly in gene expression, in plant cells that contact an invading pathogen or its chemical effecters, or in cells that are in contact with such cells. Characterize the role of one or more signal transduction pathways in a genotype specific plant response to a pathogen or pathogen-generated elicitor and discover succeeding metabolic steps involved in cell death. In collaboration with the Applied Technologies thrust, develop methods for selecting anti-phytotoxin peptides and studying cell death in protoplasts.
Most plant pathogens are host-specific, being specialized for infection of particular host plants. Correspondingly, any given plant is resistant to most pathogens it encounters. However, little is known about the mechanisms responsible for this basic resistance of plants to microbial attack, or the mechanisms by which successful pathogens break down basic resistance. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some examples of basic resistance are highly durable. The interactions selected for study are the basic resistance of tobacco against species of Phytophthora and the species-wide resistance of tomato against Xanthomonas campestris strains carrying the avrBsP gene.
Establish the function of elicitins in the biology, pathogenicity and host specificity of Phytophthora species. Identify, characterize and clone the elicitin receptor from tobacco. Identify, map, and isolate the BsP locus. Identify and characterize the avrBsP avirulence factor (elicitor) from Xanthomonas campestris pv vesicatoria. Characterize the interactions of the elicitin and avrBsP avirulence factors with their respective plant receptors and the associated plant signal transduction events. Engineer plant resistance using the cloned elicitor and plant-receptor genes.
The recent cloning of several resistance genes from Arabidopsis and several crop species including tomato indicates that genotype-specific resistance is probably determined by genes that fall into several broad mechanistic classes. CEPRAP's efforts to clone and manipulate such genes were partitioned between (1) contributing to already well-advanced map-based cloning programs, aimed at isolating and characterwg Pto and Mi1 in the laboratories of of participating Co-PI's,and (2) developing new programs unique to CEPRAP, aimed at cloning Ph1 and Mi3.
Characterize plant chromosomal regions containing clustered disease resistance genes at the DNA sequence and at the transcriptional level. Characterize the mechanism of specificity conferred by resistance genes, especially Pto and Fen. Generate bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries of genomic DNA from wild tomato species to facilitate the isolation of disease resistance genes and their transfer to cultivated species, with a focus on nematode resistance genes.
The technological side of CEPRAP research is concerned with the practical goal embedded in this Center's name, that is, genetically engineering resistance against pathogens. Although methods for creating resistance genes against plant viruses are available, the sturdiness of such genes under field conditions and their long term stability remain in question. Simultaneous or serial deployment of multiple resistance genes against the same pathogenic agent offers to provide greater stability than deployment of a single gene against an evolving pathogen. Therefore, it will be of value to develop methods for obtaining multiple resistance factors that act against one pathogen or group of pathogens but by different mechanisms. Among plant pathogens, viruses currently are the target most amenable to engineered resistance, and we have an opportunity to develop resistance genes based on entirely synthetic factors active against specific virus proteins and nucleic acids.
Develop general methods for discovering anti-virus and anti-phytotoxin factors in combinatorial libraries; to convert such factors into plant genes for resistance against viruses and understanding their mechanisms of action. Develop an understanding of cis-acting elements in virus replication and apply same to effect virus replication-specific production of toxin or RNA agent to create a new class of resistance genes. Apply toxin expression plasmids to the study of programmed cell death in collaboration with the Susceptibility Thrust Improve, and to create if necessary, virus-derived plant cell expression vectors of use in several aspects of CEPRAP research.