Core Facilities
At the Mechanobiology Institute, we’ve created leading-edge core and support facilities to enable novel and innovative research in mechanobiology. Equipment, staff and services are provided to support and overcome the experimental and computational challenges that our principal investigators, researchers and students may face.
MBI is committed to developing better ways to bring together the multi-disciplinary expertise that is needed to understand the systems biology of mechanical functions. In approaching integrated functions such as biomechanics, a single lab often does not have the resources to study all of the relevant parameters; however, innovation and insights will continue to be driven most rapidly by single investigators in a collaborative environment.
Microscopy Core
MBI’s Microscopy Core is the largest of MBI’s core facilities, serving as the backbone for most of the experimental work at the Institute. The Core supports image related research, offering a wide range of microscopes and image analysis resources.
The Microscopy Core currently has three full-time staff providing training and consultation to MBI and NUS researchers. Internal staff may learn more about the Core, including calendaring and booking, a complete workshop schedule, user policy and safety, and equipment overview and more.
Anne BEGHIN
Facility Manager
mbianne@nus.edu.sg
Nano and Microfabrication Core
The Nano and Microfabrication Core helps with the design and fabrication of innovative devices to further our biological understanding of the cell.
MBI’s Microfabrication Core was formed to support the microfabrication needs of MBI PIs, collaborators, research fellows and graduate students through direct fabrication or recommendation of suitable solutions. Their process starts with a discussion with PIs or students about their design. They help them draw the lay-out of the photo-mask (when applicable) using AutoCAD/L-edit software, and according to the fabrication process requested they write or outsource the mask, and use it for photo-lithography.
Gianluca GRENCI
Facility Manager
mbigg@nus.edu.sg
Laboratories
MBI laboratories are designed on the bold concept of an ‘open laboratory’. There are no walls or partitions separating one principal investigator’s group from another and benches are communal, as are the core facilities and common shared equipment such as autoclaves, deep freezers, centrifuges and other standard bench-top equipment.
Our labs cover microscopy, cell culture, nanofabrication, genetics, computation, and other essential services to better serve MBI researchers. The MBI Lab Core maintains and manages all bench space, biosafety cabinets, chemical fume-hoods, molecular biology rooms, tissue culture rooms, all common lab equipment, lab consumables and chemical reagents.
Cynthia Mui Yee Rosa LIANG
Facility Manager
mbilmyrc@nus.edu.sg
High-Throughput Molecular Genetics Core
The High-Throughput Molecular Genetics (HMG) Core is committed to developing and implementing molecular genetics and systems biology methodologies to advance mechanobiology research.
HMG Core provides expertise in flow cytometry, gene editing, functional genomics, single-cell genomics and bioinformatics. The core also offers consultation services and hands-on training in specialised molecular biology techniques.
Jin ZHU
Facility Manager
jzhu@nus.edu.sg
Communications and Computing Core
The Science Communications team at MBI works towards enhancing awareness of progress made in the field of mechanobiology to the general public, science enthusiasts, young students and scientists working in alternative fields. This is achieved by promoting the latest findings in our own research, and in the field in general, through the media, the production of online educational resources, and outreach events.
The Computational Core manages MBI’s IT and High-Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure for the institute. MBI hosts a local data centre for the storage and analysis of experimental data and images, and provides HPC services for computational modelling of complex biological processes. The Computational Core also liaises with NUS IT to manage shared services and answer user requests.
Andrew WONG
Facility Manager
mbiandr@nus.edu.sg
