Resources for Nutritional Sciences Researchers

Centralized Core Facilities:

Texas Tech University provides comprehensive research facilities and resources for biomedical research, with oversight by the Vice President for Research. The Center for Biotechnology and Genomics located in the Experimental Sciences building (ESB) houses state-of-the-art instrumentations and provide services and training in various aspects of modern biotechnology, mass spectrophotometry, biomolecular interaction, and DNA applications including metagenomics, meta-transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. The facility is fully staffed with personnel to assist with training and research services. Also available is the College of Arts & Sciences Microscopy (CASM), located in the ESB, which offers support and services to scientists with expertise in the fields of optical microscopy, cell cytometry and the preparation of life –science samples for imaging and analysis. The CASM is equipped with automated histology staining system, an advanced bottom-mount camera for the H-8100 transmission electron microscope (TEM) for protein-crystal research, laser capture microdissection microscope, and Olympus Fluoview 1000 Live Cell confocal microscope, to name a few. Rodent behavioral assays such as Y-maze, Morris Water Maze (MWM), and novel object recognition (NOR) test for assessment of spatial learning and memory are also available in the ESB. The Integrated Life Sciences Facility (iLSF) is a new core facility located in the Academic Sciences Building and offers a Histopathology BSL-2 Core, Clean Room Core, Human Sampling Core, and a High Resolution Nano-printing Lab.  Details for each core and available equipment can be found at https://www.depts.ttu.edu/research/facilities/iLSF/index.php 

 

Nutrition & Metabolic Health Initiative (NMHI):

The Nutrition and Metabolic Health Initiative Clinic (NMHI) is a clinical research facility located within a state-of-the-art building with 12,000 square feet for conducting clinical assessments, screenings, and a wide range of biomedical procedures, phlebotomy, medical examinations, and data collection/processing capabilities. NMHI is located off the southeast corner of Tech’s campus with ample free parking. The clinic is ideally situated for cross-campus collaboration. NMHI has considerable resources, including 15+ desktop computers (all with dual screens), a 12-Core high-performance MAC (for neuroimaging and other data-intense applications), three computers reserved for patient data collection activities, five faculty offices, 16 student/study staff cubicle workspaces, and a large secure administration area for file storage. In addition, the clinic employs an administrative coordinator and registered dietitian. NMHI is HIPPA and EHS compliant. NMHI also has substantial recruitment capabilities, including recruitment lists (>6,000 contacts), multimedia relationships, advertising contracts, recruitment areas on our website, dedicated recruiting phone lines, and email accounts. NMHI has implemented an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system to support centralized and secure management of health-related information, enhancing the efficiency and organization of its research and clinical activities. There are six clinical interview and examination rooms, with additional flex space availability. NMHI has one large conference room (occupancy 20; 85-inch smart TV with video conference capability) and one smaller conference room (occupancy 6; 60-inch smart TV with video conference capability), which provide ample space for group activity. The clinic has 2 biohazard certified phlebotomy/procedure/sample areas with onsite centrifuges (3), +4 degree C biohazard fridge (1), -80 degree C biohazard freezer, and (1) -20 degree C biohazard freezer (1) for pre-processing and short-term storage of biological samples. NMHI is equipped with a range of core facilities and specialized equipment to support comprehensive clinical and research assessments. These include a Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scanner, BOD POD, three bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) devices, a metabolic cart and two MedGem devices for indirect calorimetry, a SphygmoCor XCEL system, a breath hydrogen analyzer, a Cholestech LDX system, a CardioChek device, two HbA1c analyzers, three digital blood pressure monitors, two stadiometers, a treadmill, an elliptical machine and a bariatric weighing scale.

The Department of Nutritional Sciences is conveniently located in proximity to NMHI, which houses our basic science lab facilities. Together, this allows for fully translational clinical research. In addition, our metabolic kitchen and designated human feeding room allows for feeding and nutrition education studies. All our patient and common areas are equipped with bariatric certified, friendly equipment. Together, these facilities provide an optimal home for a wide range of clinical and translational research activity. Our focus is in supporting integrative, transdisciplinary research with facilities, expertise, and equipment, as well as the training of collaborators and/or provision of our services to support grant-funded human subject research across campus for all colleges and departments.

Neuroimaging Laboratory:

Texas Tech Neuroimaging Institute (TTNI) led by Dr. Eric Walden is located in the Experimental Sciences building at TTU and offers multi-user neuroimaging capabilities. The neuroimaging lab at the Institute houses a Siemens 3T Magnetom Skyra scanner with computing facilities, a mock scanner room, and behavioral testing rooms. The Skyra scanner is equipped for acquiring MRI, fMRI, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and MR spectroscopy (MRS) data. A high-density simultaneous EEG/ fMRI system is also available. A dual network server computer is interfaced with the Skyra scanner and the internet for receiving scanner data and providing access of the collected data to the investigators via the internet. The neuroimaging lab also contains three 12-core Mac Pros that are setup for high performance, parallel neuroimaging analysis. In addition, TTNI has access to the Linux cluster housed at the High-Performance Computing Center (HPCC) at TTU. In addition, the lab offers consultations regarding study design and modification of data acquisition parameters to assist with data analysis.

Community Nutrition Laboratory:

The Department of Nutritional Sciences is home to multiple faculty members with expertise in conducting public health and community nutrition research. Drs. Elyvine Gasana, Nicole Larson, and Oak-Hee Park are experts in nutritional epidemiology, maternal and child nutrition, and community health promotion. This team of public health and community nutrition faculty is equipped with several resources that were purchased to facilitate previous research projects. The following equipment is available at no cost for the proposed project: digital scales for measuring weight and body composition, portable stadiometers, measuring tapes, blood pressure monitor, a CardioChek Plus lipid test kit, a portable reflection spectroscopy device (“Veggie Meter”), food models, portable cooking sets (3), iPads (3), and a hydroponic growing system for indoor gardening.

Molecular Biology Laboratories:

Under the directorship of Drs. Murali Vijayan, Andrew Shin, Nikhil V. Dhurandhar, and Vijay Hegde, cutting-edge molecular tools are available including:

1. Brookhaven Nanobrook 90Plus PALS analyzer system for measuring nanocarrier size, size distribution and zeta potential
2. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) that is equipped with Waters1525 binary pump, 2707 autosampler with refrigeration unit, 2489 dual wavelength UV-visible detector, 2475 multi λ fluorescence detector, 2465 electrochemical detector and in-line degasser
3. Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS)-2020 UFLC PDA SYSTEM (Shimadzu Corporation) with PDA detector and high-speed single quadrupole LCMS detector with electrospray interface and source, CBM-20A with Switch, DGU-20A5 Degasser, SIL-20AC UFLC Autosampler, two LC-20AD Solvent Delivery Units, semi-micro Flow Cell for SPD-M20A, advanced data station, and compatible LC/MS solution software
4. Olympus CKX53 brightfield/phase contrast microscope for cell and tissue analysis and image capture.
5. LiCor, BioRad ChemiDoc Touch and Invitrogen iBright 1500 quantitative western imaging system for protein work.
6. Applied Biosystems- Quant Studio3 and 7900HT for real-time quantitative PCR instrumentations for RNA work.
7. Eppendorf Mastercycler Nexus gradient system for DNA amplification.
8. MagPix Luminex instrument for cytokine analysis
9. Seahorse XF Flex Analyzer for measuring oxygen consumption and energy expenditure in live cells
10. Cellometer Vision CBA (Nexcelom) and a BD Flow Cytometer for cellular analysis
11. Tri-Carb 4810 TR Liquid Scintillation Analyzer (Perkin Elmer) for measuring radioactive isotopes in serum or plasma samples
12. Leica DMi8 Spinning Disk Confocal Microscope for fluorescent and color imaging of tissues or cells.  Has on stage incubator for live cell imaging.
13. Multiple ABI QuantStudio3 qPCR systems for gene and miRNA expression level measurements.

Neurobiology of Nutrition (N2) Laboratory:

The lab of Dr. Andrew C. Shin is equipped with Stoelting stereotaxic frames for cannulation or direct injection into the brain of rodents for DREADD (designer-receptors-exclusively-activated-by-designer-drugs) studies, optogenetics instrumentations including a waveform generator, energy meter, two lasers, and a beam splitter, and several Harvard single- and multi-syringe automated pumps for integrative physiological pancreatic clamps (hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamps; hyperglycemic clamps) with tracer dilution technique for metabolic flux and insulin sensitivity analyses. Other techniques are available in the lab including venous catheter implantation, autonomic denervation, brain immunostaining, and microdissection of brain. In vivo behavioral assays such as taste reactivity test, preference test, and progressive ratio lever press test to assess food hedonics and reward are also available.

Animal Facilities:

Texas Tech University has full accreditation by the Council on AccreditatiIon for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC). The Experimental Sciences building II (ESB II) houses an accredited animal facility in its basement, overseen centrally by Texas Tech Office of Lab Animal Care. This facility includes rooms for animal housing, surgery/ procedure rooms and a state-of-the-art metabolic chamber system (TSE Phenomaster) comprising 16 mouse metabolic cages that can simultaneously assess body weight, food/water intake, locomotor activity, and energy expenditure and RER. An EchoMRI-3-in-1/ body composition analyzer for live animals is also conveniently located in the animal facility. Additionally, a 3600 ft2 animal housing is also available at the ESB II on campus which has ABSLI and ABSLII level animal rooms. This facility contains ante room (with washer/dryer and locker rooms for men and women), PPE/storage room, 6 animal holding rooms, 3 procedure rooms, 1 feed/bedding room, cage-wash room (dirty and clean sides) equipped with a pass-through cage and bottle washer, a pass-through autoclave, a bio-bubble for bedding disposal and storage for caging, racks, carts, water bottles and enrichment.

Additional equipment available are IVIS spectrum CT machine (anesthesia included), 2 mobile anesthesia machines, 3 hard-ducted biosafety cabinets (Class BII) and 4 recirculating biosafety cabinets (Class Bll). Outstanding staff members are committed to helping monitor the animals seven days a week. Veterinarians are available for consultation if needed.

Institutional Support for Investigators:

Strong institutional support for investigators is offered at departmental, college and university level. Various workshops and seminars related to grant writing and career development are offered on a regular basis to support all faculty members, but especially young investigators.  Department provides travel allowance to faculty and graduate students (supplemented by the Graduate School) to attend scientific meetings and to present their research at such conferences. Annually, the Department covers membership to one professional society per faculty and provides support to the Graduate Nutrition Organization of students. Importantly, the Department covers maintenance and repair of almost all research equipment.  The Department has a strong culture of exchange of scientific information and also of promoting achievements of staff, students and faculty.  The Facilities & Administrative costs that are returned to the department are shared with the faculty who generated them.  This funding helps to generate additional preliminary data for subsequent grant proposals.  The Department of Nutritional Sciences is based in the College of Health and Human Sciences (CHHS), which is strongly supportive of research.  CHHS offers funding for numerous intramural grants, which help generate preliminary data for writing larger research grants. The College also supports purchase of larger research equipment as needed.  The university offers strong administrative support for proposal development and submission, and the Office of Research Commercialization for promoting innovation, inventions, intellectual property protection and possible commercialization.  The university also provides awards and funding to distinguished researchers to further encourage research.