Welcome!
ALERT ATTENTION ⚠️
In observance of a holiday, Agilent CrossLab/iLab Operations Software Support Help Desk will be closed during U.S. hours on Friday, July 4th, 2025. We will resume regular U.S. support hours on Monday, July 7th, 2025. EU and APAC Support will remain open during this time. For urgent matters, please add "Urgent" to the ticket/email subject or press "1" when prompted to escalate a call on the iLab Support phone, and we will prioritize those requests first.
The Ross Fluorescence Imaging Center is available to all JHU researchers, and outside users, with our main focus being the staff in the Division of Gastroenterology ("GI Center"). We have additional interactions with members of the Division of Cardiology, throughout Department of Medicine, and School of Medicine. We collaborate closely with the Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (ACCM), managing their Leica SP8 confocal microscope core as a separate iLab core (ACCM Confocal Microscope).
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July 1, 2024 (JHU FY25 fiscal year) image core rates are now:
Trained Weekend Training/Assistance Comment
Confocal $35 $25 $140 Olympus FV3000RS confocal microscope. Our sister core, ACCM Leica SP8 confocal microscope, rates are the same.
offline FISHscope $10 $10 $120
offline Keyence $10 $10 $120
Zeiss AxioImager $10 $10 $120
Li-Cor Odyssey $4 $4 $120 As of 6/2024 move to G.I. lab with access limited to G.I. users.
offline Bio-Tek plate reader $4 $4 $120 Currently (3/2025) not functional.
PTI Fluorimeter $4 $4 $120
MetaMorph software $4 $4 $120
This informations is also at http://confocal.jhu.edu/current-equipment
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July 3, 2023 update: P30 center funding was not renewed. George McNamara, PhD, is now funded 20% by ACCM and GI, so is now 20% here on Ross 9th floor (Ross S913 office; microscopes in 913, S910 [service corridor]) and 80% managing the High Throughput Phenotypic Screening ("HPS2") platform in Smith Bldg (10 minute walk across campus).
One consequence of George being 20% time at Ross 9 is that new users need to be patient about getting training on new instruments (and old users to get retraining if forgot what to do) -- may be several weeks before training can be done. JHU has many other microscopy facilities (MicFac, Neuroscience, Ophtalmology, as examples). All users need to be attentive to details - especially how to start and finish sessions on any specific microscope. Users need to be carefulto leave the microscope in a fully functional state for the next user.
Reminder: all users need to have reservations (its also how we bill) and to sign in at the start of your session (and sign out at end so we do not bill you to next user starts).
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out of date as of July 2023: Main users are (were) NIH NIDDK funded P30 "DCC" Center and collaborators in the G.I. division.
The DCC’s areas of research emphasized include Epithelial transporter function and regulation (with emphasis on trafficking, protein-protein interactions and heavy metal transport), Inflammation, injury and fibrosis, Neurogastroenterology, and GI pre-cancer (with emphasis on signaling pathways, inflammation, epigenetics, and biomarkers).
The mission of Hopkins DCC Imaging Core B is to provide equipment and service of classical and cutting-edge light microscopy and spectroscopy techniques to our Research Base investigators for study of the physiology and cell biology of the GI track at the level of organs, tissues, cell models, co-cultures, sub-cellular organelles and single molecules. These approaches include wide-field, confocal and multiphoton microscopy with applications for immunofluorescence; single molecule RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH); measurements of intracellular pH, Ca2+and other ions by small molecule indicators and fluorescent protein biosensors; methods to determine protein trafficking at a single cell level; FRET microscopy for detection of protein-protein interactions in in vitro and in vivo models; FRAP microscopy for monitoring the changes in protein mobility and binding in protein complexes; and multicolor spectral imaging with more than 4 fluorophores.
We are located in the Ross Research Building 9th floor (service corridor S913, S910). Our major focus is confocal microscopy, with an Olympus FV3000RS inverted confocal microscope. We also manage ACCM’s Leica SP8 confocal microscope. Our new single molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization microscope (“FISHscope”) is a state of the art 5plex microscope, complemented by development of smFISH probe sets by our core director, Prof. Bin Wu. We have an Olympus FV1000MPE multiphoton microscope, Keyence BZ-X700 “box” microscope, Zeiss inverted microscope with Olympus DP80 dual monochrome & RGB CCDs camera, multiple MetaMorph Imaging System software licenses, and expert fluorescence microscopy consultations and training from Image Core Manager George McNamara, PhD, and Image Core Director Prof. Bin Wu, PhD.
We additionally manage the iLab schedulers for several additional instruments, including Li-Cor Odyssey CLx Western blot scanner, PerkinElmer EnVision 2104 multi-mode plate reader (absorbance, fluorescence, luminescence, Alpha screen), and two Horiba PTI-fluorimeters.
Sept 2022: single molecule RNA FISH fluorescent oligonucleotide(s) Probe Synthesis "as a Service" idea ended - you can contact Prof. Bin Wu directly about collaborating with their lab (they may be busy withtheir projects).
Leadership
Prof. Brian O'Rourke is helping G.I. with the FV3000RS confocal microscope (Brian was P.I. of the $440,000 NIH S10 grant proposal).
Location and hours of operation
| Hours | Location |
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Training: Monday - Friday 9 AM - 5 PM Instrumentation is available 24/7 to fully trained users (scan card or key access) as of July 3, 2023: George is now 20% time at Ross 9 - be patient with respect to training and use the instruments correctly |
Ross Research Bldg., 9th floor 720 Rutland Ave, Baltimore, MD 21205-2195 Rooms: S913, S910 (S = service corridor) FV3000RS is accessible through Ross 913 (front hallway, scan card access) |
20210126Tue: Services - use Schedule Equipment tab ( https://johnshopkins.corefacilities.org/service_center/5148/?tab=equipment ) to make reservations. When you use any equipment, enter your name and start time (and date) "first thing", and then sign out when done. Failure to sign in at start of each session means you are trespassing on JHU property. Billing of our confocal microscopes is in 1/2 hour interval (rounded up) from sign-in sheet. Other equipment is billed by reservation.
| Consultation ... with George McNamara, PhD - last day at JHU is June 25, 2025 - best wishes. |
| Olympus FV3000RS ... confocal microscope |
| Zeiss AxioObserver.A1 inverted microscope w/DP80 CCD |
| Keyence BZ-X710 all-in-one microscope |
| Olympus IX83 Inverted Microscope ("FISHscope") |
| Li-Cor Odyssey CLx Western blot scanner |
| Biotek absorbance plate reader (Ross S910) - all users must sign in - currently not functional - plenty of other plate readers on campus |
| PTI Quantamaster 40 Fluorimeter #1 Ross S913 - curretly not in use because other equipment stored on and around this. |
| PTI Quantamaster 40 Fluorimeter #2 - now in storage |
| MetaMorph image analysis #1 |
| MetaMorph image analysis #2 |
| Olympus FV1000MPE Multiphoton Microscope - ended |
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VueScan slide scanner ... this service is in preliminary phase, similar image quality as https://works.bepress.com/gmcnamara/1/ |
| See also http://confocal.jhu.edu/current-equipment/ |
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Note: four of our microscopes can "do" tile scanning and image stitching AND/OR automate stage relocation for "cyclic" imaging (ex 12plex RNAscope 3 cycles of 4 probes). This can enable more efficient acquisition at optimum spatial resolution (i.e.high NA objective lens, wavelength limited pixel and Z-step size) (if the analysis computer can handle our 'data deluge') without you being present the whole time (a major benefit of automated microscopy): * ACCM Leica SP8 confocal microscope (ACCM core in iLab; standard tile scan or NAVIGATOR 'app' wizard) * Olympus FV3000RS confocal * FISHscope (Olympus IX83) * Keyence BZ-X710 Our Olympus FV1000MPE multiphoton microscope can also tile scan -- a user 'did' a 50 slide project of kidney tissue fibrosis in 2018 -- but currently (1/2021) very nfrequently used microscope (we'd be happy to see more users on it). 1/2021: we have also put on VueScan slide scanner for histology / brightfield IHC slides onto a PC in the image core and an iLab scheduler here. This produces images equivalent to a 4x or 5x objective lens 'nominal resolution' (though sometimes the slide scanner focus is not quite as good). Nice for acquiring large area quickley, and then making measurements of areas in Fiji ImageJ, MetaMorph, Photoshop, etc. If users find it useful, great; if not, we may remove it as a service and just have it at GM's PC. Scanner is a repurposed 35 mm film scanner. You are welcome to scan in your 35 mm film 'cassettes' or film strips, when VueScan is not being used for research. |
| ACCM Leica SP8 confocal microscope is at https://johnshopkins.corefacilities.org/schedules/345585 |
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5/2021: New [now 2023 defunct] Services https://johnshopkins.corefacilities.org/service_center/5148?tab=services Single molecule RNA FISH probe synthesis and specimen preparation training - by Fatemeh Jahan Bakhsh, PhD. See "Request Services/Training" tab at top and contact Prof. Bin Wu and Dr. Jahan Bakhsh. ==> G.I. division did not get its NIDDK P30 Center grant renewed (2022). As one consequence, we are unable to offer "FISH as a Service". JHU researchers can try collaborating with Prof. Bin Wu (Rangos Bldg). Serveral commercial options are available, including: * RNAscope - ACDbio (Bio-Techne) (branched DNA amplification) * Hybridization Chain Reaction (HCR) - Molecular Instruments (reagents company) (HCR amplification) * STELLARIS FISH - Biosearch Technologies (yupically 48 oligos, one dye per oligo) GM also encourages users to check out Prof. Arjun Raj, UPenn, https://rajlab.seas.upenn.edu/ - codeveloper of the STELLARIS FISH approach (see especially their Turbo FISH, SNP FISH).
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| Reminder: all users must have an iLab reservation AND sign-in and out of the usage sheet. Failure to do is trespassing on JHU property. |
| Name | Role | Phone | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBD (to be determined) |
Manager
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Ross S913
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https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ross+Research+Building/@39.2990069,-76.5970203,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x89c804624c87ff91:0xc25e49fbee8bc7fa!4m6!3m5!1s0x89c8057f825dd71f:0xe518a3526136db7e!8m2!3d39.2990029!4d-76.5921494!16s%2Fg%2F11ghzn6hkv?entry=ttu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- . Google Maps (picture is under Ross Bldg - from the adjacent Rutland Garage [JHU staff parking only] - visitors can use Washington Street Garage, on east side of Washington St, entrance between East Monument St (east bound) and East Madison St (west bound). We recommend using a JHU parking garage, not on street parking. . George McNamara, PhD 720 Rutland Ave Ross Research Building S913 (service corridor) 720 Rutland Ave Baltimore MD 21231 Please note: Dr. McNamara is part time at "Ross 9" (Ross Imaging Core and ACCM Confocal Microscope Core), and part time at the Smith Bldg (10 minutes walk) - please plan WELL IN ADVANCE to for training, appointments, etc
