Resources
The division’s facilities were specifically designed and equipped to provide for successful and efficient completion of preclinical projects involving in vitro and in vivo work.
Facilities
The Division of Translational Radiation Sciences (DTRS) occupies more than 20,000 sq. ft. of research space and was built for the purpose of conducting basic and advanced research and development in compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) regulations. The layout, furnishings, and equipment in the offices, wet lab space, and animal suite areas were all chosen to ensure efficiency of communication and maximize productivity. The comprehensive resources available in the DTRS facility are complemented by the specialized expertise and technology available through the continuously expanding core services at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Support from the internal Veterinary Resources department and various university offices work in concert with DTRS policies and practices to ensure a safe work environment for both personnel and animals, with an emphasis on integrity and compliance.
Small Animal Laboratory
The DTRS dedicated small animal laboratory is separated into wet lab space (with 10 workbenches, tissue culture room, walk-in cold room, and equipment room) and an animal suite with ID-card entry. The animal suite includes an animal housing room (up to 6,000 rodents), three irradiator rooms, two animal observation rooms, an animal necropsy room, and a dedicated test and control article preparation room.
Large Animal Laboratory
The DTRS dedicated GLP large animal laboratory contains six animal rooms to house individual species; a treatment room dedicated to animal care; diagnostic labs for hematology, clinical chemistry, and coagulopathy; as well as surgical and necropsy suites.
Cellular and Molecular Biology Laboratory
The DTRS cellular and molecular biology laboratory is fully equipped for the conduct of state-of-the art basic science research to explore the underlying mechanisms of tumor biology and radiation-induced normal tissue injury.
Test and Control Article Preparation
The DTRS drug formulation suite includes the necessary tools, safety controls, procedures, and documentation practices for mixing test and control articles.
Instrumentation
All instrumentation is located within the DTRS large and small animal laboratories and is available to all researchers within the division.
Radiation Sources
- Three orthovoltage X-RAD 320 irradiators (Precision X-Ray, Inc.)
- Small Animal Radiation Research Platform with onboard CT (X-Strahl)
- 21EX Trilogy Linear Accelerator (LINAC) (Varian Medical Systems)
Clinical Chemistry and Hematology
- Beckman Coulter (BC) AcT diff2 hematology analyzer
- Beckman Coulter Allegra x-15 centrifuge
- Hematek automated slide stainer
- GammaCell Elite 1000 blood irradiator
- Alfa Wassermann ACE clinical chemistry analyzer
Animal Physiology
- Two 15-chamber Buxco Whole Body Plethysmography Systems (Data Sciences International)
- Vevo 2100 Small Animal Imaging System, with rodent anesthetic system (VisualSonics, Inc.)
- CX 50 Ultrasound System
- GE Medical Systems Model Lightspeed 2.X CT scanner with 2 MIM workstations for CT analysis
- Pulse oximeters (for large and small animals)
- Siemens BCS XP Coagulation System
- Rotem Delta Thromboelastography (TEM International)
Pathology and Histology
- Grosslab Pathology Workstation (Thermo Scientific)
- Axio Imager M2 microscope with AxioCam MRc (Carl Zeiss Microscopy LLC)
- HM355 Microtome (Thermo Scientific)
- Two Nikon Eclipse 50i microscopes
- Aperio Slide Digitizer
Flow Cytometry
- BD FACSCalibur with FACS flow supply system
Molecular Biology
- MasterCycler Pro for RT-PCR (Eppendorf)
- 96- and 384-well CFX RT-PCR system with automator (Bio-Rad)
- HT Multi-Detection Microplate Reader (Biotek)
- Nanodrop spectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific)
- ChemiDoc MP Gel Imaging System (Bio-Rad)
- MaxQ500 Shaker (Thermo Scientific)
- Sorvall ST16 Centrifuge (Thermo Scientific)
- Refrigerated centrifuge (Eppendorf)
- PCR workstation (Thermo Scientific)
Tissue Culture
- Air-jacketed CO2 incubator (Nuaire)
- Heracell dual-chamber incubator (Thermo Scientific)
- Cell counter (Beckman Coulter)
- Three inverted microscopes (2 Olympus CK2, 1 Nikon TE2000-S with image capture capability)
Clonogenic Assay
- Colony counter and scanner (Synoptics)
Other
- Smart-Vue Wireless Temperature Monitoring and Alarm System (Thermo Scientific)
- Analytical balance 220g (Mettler Toledo)
- Tabletop autoclaves
- Miscellaneous equipment, including but not limited to electronic and standard balances, vortex, and water baths.
In addition, the division has access to the broad range of core support services provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
