This proposal is requesting funds for the purchase of a Becton-Dickinson FACSCalibur, a benchtop flow cytometry system capable of 4-color analysis as well as cell sorting functions. The requested instrumentation will provide flow cytometry services to a principal user group of 15 investigators and allow access to other interested Yale University faculty. The major user group was assembled from investigators with widely varying research interests, from basic immunology of bacterial infection to molecular analysis of autoimmune diseases. As indicated in individual research proposals, however, the investigators share a common requirement for flow cytometry as an integral component of their work. This proposal originated from the inadequate access to flow cytometry services by scientists at this institution. While the technology itself is not novel, the research progress of these investigators (twelve of whom are supported by one or more NIH grants) is significantly hindered by the inability perform flow cytometry in a reasonable and expedient manner. The optimal use of existing NIH support by these investigators is contingent on the requested instrumentation. As indicated by supporting documentation, other flow cytometry facilities in the university are utilized to maximum capacity and the delay in running samples ranges from one to four weeks. The needs for fast and efficient multiparameter FACS analysis are not being met by existing services in the institution. The core scientists represent eight different departments within the medical school or university. A committee of three investigators will supervise maintenance of the instrument, accounting of user fees, and the appropriate training of investigators. Finally, the proposed instrumentation will provide a large number of investigators, with 11 of 15 in the major user group as junior faculty (Assistant Professors), the opportunity to maximize their research efforts. Moreover, this second submission of this proposal comes with a commitment of funds from the Yale University School of Medicine for ongoing support of this instrument, a major criticism of our original proposal.
