The Biomolecular Resource Facility (BRF) is a newly re-organized and expanded infrastructure research service at UTMB that includes five component cores largely dedicated to the population and/or analysis of proteins and peptides. The Biomolecular Resource Facility Core refers to that component of the BRF that is supported by the NIEHS Center. The five component cores are: 1) Mass Spectrometry, 2) Peptide Synthesis, 3) Protein Chemistry, 4) Protein Expression and Purification, and 5) Proteomics. In the past funding period this NIEHS service core was called the Protein Chemistry and Purification Core Facility. Major new additions include a Proteomics Core and a Mass Spectrometry Core, as well as several major items of equipment obtained from three NIH/NCRR equipment grants (A. Kurosky, principal investigator). Re-organization has centralized the administrative structure of the facility, providing a higher efficiency of operation and greater convenience to NIEHS investigators; 16 of the 18 services offered have NIEHS usages ranging from 5% to 75% of the facility's total UTMB usage, depending on the service. This amount of usage represents an excellent return on NIEHS. investment, which is currently about 10% of the BRF.s total direct operating costs. The core director, Dr. Alex Kurosky, has over 30 years of experience relating to protein structure and function and to genetics. The BRF has been instrumental in UTMB's receipt of several major proteomics funding awards from NIH, including a major NHLBI Proteomics center to Dr. Kurosky. The resulting new capabilities in turn enhance the value of the BRF to NIEHS Center investigators. Continued support for this expanded and re-organized core will be very important to the NIEHS Center, especially to provide our Center investigators much-need access to proteomics and mass spectrometry technologies.
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