The primary goal of Functional Immunomics Core (FIC) is to serve as the central infrastructure entity that supports all the investigators in the Center for Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy (CCII) COBRE.

The specific aims of FIC are

• To build a functional immunomics facility at the University of Louisville.
• To utilize the full-service FIC platform to ensure the success, education and training of CCII-supported project investigators.
• To facilitate translational cancer immunology/immunotherapy research and develop a self-sustaining immunomics core service for all UofL investigators.

Key Progresses

The key element of the Functional Immunomics Core (FIC) is the establishment of a highly integrated flow cytometry center from the available resources at James Graham Brown Cancer Center and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. These facilities are already equipped with three sorters (one 4-laser Beckman Coulter Moflo and two 3-llaser BD ARIA-IIIs) and three analyzers including a 16 color BD-Fortessa, a 6-color BD FACSCanto and a 4-color Accuri for routine analysis of mouse/human cells and sorting of mouse and human samples. An important new addition is the CyTOF Helios Mass cytometer.

The FIC also provided collaborative services for other investigators in the campus. The Core helped data analyses. The FIC also interacted with investigators at the University of Louisville Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute for mass cytometry antibody panel design and sample preparations.

The FIC has been formally established with Dr. Hong Li as Core Manager and mass cytometry technician Aaron Puckett. The FIC is equipped with Helios mass cytometry and biosafety hood for human tissue process and preparation. Approximately 150 samples have been run in CyTOF and initial analytic approaches have been established. The Core also established protocols for CyTOF sample preparation, antibody panel design, customized antibody labeling, and instrument maintenance.