Flow Cytometry Core

PROJECT SUMMARY – Flow Cytometry and Immune Monitoring Shared Resource The mission of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCCC) Flow Cytometry and Immune Monitoring Shared Resource (FCIM) is to provide advanced multi-parameter flow cytometry, cell sorting capabilities, and immune monitoring services for advancing basic, translational, and clinical research with options for full-service

technical support for cancer clinical trial immune-monitoring correlative studies. NCCC Administration oversees FCIM with Martin Kast PhD (continuing in the role) and Rong Lu PhD (new in the role in 2015) as the faculty Co- Directors. Kast and Lu have extensive and complementary scientific expertise; they meet monthly to provide

executive oversight for core services and to promote user access and satisfaction. In response to annual NCCC surveys of Shared Resources (SR) and feedback from the NCCC External Advisory Board, FCIM significantly enhanced services and new equipment during the current grant cycle, including: 1) expanded sorting and high

throughput analysis capabilities with 3 new instruments offering more available colors, 2) increased post-sort viability, 3) added services for mass cytometry (CyTOF)-assisted projects; and 4) lowered costs due to improved efficiencies. In the next grant cycle, based on user feedback, FCIM will expand its services to include T cell

receptor (TCR) clonality determination and other single cell omics using a newly acquired Illumina MiSeq System in the Molecular Genomics SR and spatial immune profiling with the recently acquired Vector Polaris system in the Translational Pathology SR. During the current grant period (2015-2020), 70 NCCC members representing

all five programs utilized FCIM, resulting in 53 publications and $15.9M in direct cost grant funding as a direct result of usage. The anticipated annual budget of FCIM in the first year of the next grant cycle is $632,453, yet the CCSG request is $143,215. Accordingly, FCIM leverages extensive institutional and recharge support and

seeks only 23% from CCSG funds.