The hESC Core Facility

Mission

The mission of the hESC Core at the Yale Stem Cell Center (YSCC) is to provide essential services for research on human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to researchers in the State of Connecticut and to serve as a central location for Connecticut investigators conducting studies of non-federally-approved hESC lines.

(Enlarge Picture)

1. Serves as a central repository and distribution center for hESC lines, including both federally approved and non-federally approved lines.
2. Performs Quality Assurance on all hESC lines in its repository including assurance of pluripotency, karyotype stability, purity, and sterility. This Quality Assurance also includes Quality Improvement (e.g., establishment of improved conditions for feeder-free and serum-free culture) and Quality Control. All newly produced cell lines undergo strict validation including karyotype analysis and assessment of in vitro and in vivo pluripotentiality.



3. Provides training in thawing, maintenance, expansion, differentiation, and cryopreservation of the cells.
4. Serves as a research site for studies on non-federally-approved hESC lines.
5. Works in close collaboration with Yale’s In Vitro Fertilization Program to produce new hESC lines from primary human blastocysts.
6. Responds to requests from investigators for genetic modification of cell lines including adding and knocking out of genes.
7. Serves as a liaison with the ESCRO committee, Human Investigation Committee (IRB), and Grant & Contract Administration, and assists with and oversees Materials Transfer Agreements for hESC lines as needed.
8. Assures compliance with all federal and non-federal rules and regulations regarding research using hESC lines. This entails staying up-to-date as policies regarding these cells change, and maintaining close communication with the ESCRO Committee as well as the individual investigators.

Staff

Technical Director: Caihong Qiu, PhD
Telephone: 737-7925

Research Assistant: Razveen Shamsedeen, MD
Telephone: 785-6673