Mission: By providing state-of-the-art biomedical instrumentation, the IRF seeks to facilitate the expansion of scientific knowledge and discovery in the USC School of Medicine Columbia and main campus research environments.

Purpose: As an integral component of the research and teaching mission of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, the IRF houses several major pieces of state-of-the-art biotechnological equipment that provide investigation ranging from single cell and molecular level analysis to whole animal imaging. Additionally, the IRF maintains a full range of ancillary equipment available for sample preparation, image enhancement, and data analysis.

The Western South Dakota DNA Core Facility (WestCore) was established in 2003 as part of the South Dakota Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (SD-BRIN). We complement the Proteomics and Genomics BRIN core facilities.

Our primary services include nucleic acid sequencing, genotyping, marker development and library construction. Priority is given to SD-BRIN/INBRE research, but services are also provided to non-BRIN/INBRE university researchers as well as government agencies and some private organizations.

Westcore is a fully staffed laboratory with automated DNA instrumentation, and has a federally approved quality management plan.

The Instrumentation Resource Facility (IRF) is an integral component of the research and teaching mission of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine (USC SOM). Located within the facility are several major pieces of state-of-the-art biomedical research equipment that provide techniques ranging from whole animal through single cell imaging to analysis at the molecular level. The IRF also houses a full range of ancillary equipment that is available for sample preparation. In addition to serving as a resource for acquisition of primary data, the IRF also has the capacity for image enhancement and related data analysis.

The mission of the IRF is to provide state-of-the-art biomedical research instrumentation for use in the USC SOM and USC main campus research environments. As time and resources permit, outside use of the facility is also permitted and encouraged. Technical assistance and training are available in most areas of research sponsored in the IRF. The flowchart below presents broad categories of instrumentation that are available in the IRF and subsequent pages present specific information concerning instrument configurations, training and rules for the use of instruments, the appropriate IRF staff to contact for the use of various pieces of equipment, and pricing.