Shared Facilities Spotlight: Bio-Imaging and Analysis Facility

Post Date: February 28, 2025 | Publish Date:

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Photo of Sarah McLeod, Shared Facilities administrator, in the Bio-Imaging and Analysis Facility

One of Cincinnati Children’s 30 state-of-the-art shared facilities, the Bio-Imaging and Analysis Facility provides cost-effective access to high-end microscope imaging devices as well as access to and training on multi-dimensional image analysis.

The Bio-Imaging and Analysis Facility (BAF) plays a crucial role in supporting cutting-edge research. The team is comprised of experts on tissue processing methods, including tissue clearing and expansion microscopy.

“We work closely with researchers to develop sample preparation, imaging, and analysis methods to make discoveries within their fields of expertise,” said Matthew Kofron, PhD, director of the facility and professor, Developmental Biology.

He explained that the BAF is a Nikon Center of Excellence (NCOE), and that it receives subsidies for service contracts, lowering its operating costs.

“The BAF has some of the lowest rates on use of shared microscope instrumentation in the nation,” he said. “There is no charge for training, consultation, image analysis workstations, or wide-field microscopes. The NCOE partnership gives the BAF and Cincinnati Children’s researchers access to new software and technology before it’s available to other institutions.”

The BAF offers these imaging capabilities and equipment:

Single photon laser scanning microscopy (LSM)
High-speed single photon LSM
Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM) super-resolution microscopy
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) imaging
Multi-photon LSM
Wide-field and structured illumination microscopy
Light-sheet imaging for large, cleared sample and for live organoids/embryos
Image analysis

If you would like to inquire about using the BAF, please contact Matthew Kofron (matthew.kofron@cchmc.org).

Browse the photo gallery below to see some of our researchers at work in this facility.