Title: Stratedigm S100EON high-parameter flow cytometer to support multi-institutional
research programs
Abstract: The Immune Modeling, Analysis, and Diagnostic Shared Resource (IMAD) is a CLIA-
certified core facility that performs highly validated flow cytometry for various large multi-
institutional NIH-funded research programs. It is the designated immunology core facility for the
California Cancer Consortium, the UC Davis Alpha Clinic, and the UC Davis Comprehensive
Cancer Center. The California Cancer Consortium is an NCI-funded consortium which includes
investigators from the City of Hope, University of Southern California, University of California
Davis, and Stanford. The UC Davis Alpha clinic runs local and multi-institutional CIRM and
NIH-sponsored clinical studies. Its partners include the University of California San Diego,
University of California San Francisco, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The goal
of the current NIH S10 application is to support the purchase of the Stratedigm S100EON, which
is a high-parameter flow cytometer. The extremely low operating cost of this instrument and its
ability to fully automate the flow cytometry work flow (i.e. staining, centrifugation, incubation,
loading, etc.) make this instrument especially suited for the IMAD and separate it from other the
other flow cytometers currently available. These unique features will dramatically lower the per
sample acquisition cost and increase the number of samples that can processed with IMAD's
existing resources. Both lowering the per sample cost and increasing the throughput capacity are
essential, if the IMAD is to meet their current demand, which is evident by their large backlog of
frozen specimens. As it stands, the IMAD is possibly the only immunology core in the University
of California system without a dedicated flow cytometer. Also, even if the IMAD investigators
are willing to travel, there are no high-parameter flow analyzers available in Sacramento for them
to use. The absence of a flow cytometer is the major bottleneck that prevents the IMAD from
providing exceptional pricing and turnaround time for its users. The IMAD is focused on
providing high throughput, highly validated flow-based assays to investigators across the
country. Finally, IMAD highly validated sample preparation and acquisition services do not
overlap with current UC Davis core facilities.