• Technical Achievement
• Customer Service
• Performance Excellence

Specific criteria and examples for each of these awards can be found��on the website.

Anyone can nominate a staff member for the award (no self-nominations, though) so please forward the award announcement to other core facility stakeholders, customers or other lab members who may wish to nominate a staff member!

Nominees and nominators can be from any of the Schools at ������.�� Nominations are open through May 2, 2025, with winners announced in late May. If you have any questions after reading the criteria on our website��please contact the Office of Research Technologies at��corefacilities@med.unc.edu

Each winner will receive $1,000 (pre-tax) and a feature on the Office of Research Technologies website.

Website link:��/corefacilities/core-facilities-staff-recognition-program

We look forward to your nominations!

Front row from L: Meghan Kraft, Zoe Senn, Gabriela de la Cruz, Michelle Itano, and Charlene Santos. Back row from L: Ben Wright, Chris Gregory, Erin Wallace, Kara Clissold, Patricia Basta, Angela Creighton, Stew Little, and Holly Dressman. Not pictured: Nat Prunet and Casey Lunkley.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (������-CH) was well represented at this meeting, with attendance from 15 members of the core ecosystem as both attendees and invited speakers. Christopher Gregory, PhD (Director, ������ SOM Office of Research Technologies), presented a session on quality audit preparedness and training during the pre-meeting Business Skills workshop. These workshops offer critical foundational skills on the compliance aspects of core management across universities, including budgeting, rates, equipment, and metrics. ��He also led a session on Rigor, Reproducibility, and Transparency Practices for Shared Resources which presented challenges and successes for improving rigorous and reproducible research conducted within core facilities across diverse scientific fields. Alongside Chris in that session was Michelle Itano, PhD, Director of the ������ Neuroscience Microscopy Core.

Michelle Itano (������ Chapel Hill Neuroscience Microscopy Core) and Karolien Denef (Colorado State University) are all smiles for their panel session “Learning to Coach: A Toolkit to Empower Individual and Professional Growth” ABRF 2025

She presented the challenges and solutions for complex workflows in her microscopy core. Michelle also spoke in a session titled Learning to Coach: A Toolkit to Empower Individual and Professional Growth, addressing the need for professional development in management and mentorship for core directors and senior core staff, who may benefit from increased access to resources supporting the success of future career scientists and trainees. Ben Wright, Director of Research Core Development in the ������ Office of Sponsored Programs, was a speaker in the session Shared Research Resources and Central Offices: A Winning Hand which shared and highlighted the important partnerships core facilities must maintain with other administrative units on campus. Ben specifically highlighted the steps taken here at ������ Chapel Hill to break down barriers and increase transparency between these units. ��

Four ������-CH members presented Lightning Talks during daily lunch breaks, contributing important knowledge on scientific and administrative workflows and programs. Gabriela de la Cruz (Facility Director, Pathology Services Core) presented From Method Development to Discovery: Innovating Spatial Transcriptomics with Xenium. ��Her talk focused on the workflow and challenges of incorporating and

Gabriela de la Cruz (Pathology Services Core) presents her Lighting Talk during ABRF 2025

optimizing new technology into a core facility.

Zoe Senn (������ NeuroTools Viral Vector Core) presents her Lightning Talk “Utilizing Salesforce to Optimize Ordering and Billing Workflows for Cores with External Customer Bases” during ABRF 2025.

Zoe Senn (Business Officer, NeuroTools Viral Vector Core) discussed a creative solution to problems identified at the interface of the customer ordering process and the core billing process in Utilizing Salesforce to Optimize Ordering and Billing Workflows for Cores with External Customer Bases. Kara Clissold (Associate Director, ������ SOM Office of Research Technologies (ORT)) presented on a unique pilot project funding program and its outcomes managed by ORT and the Core Facility Advocacy Committee (CFAC) in Pilot Project Funding: Return on Investment and Impact of a “Core Voucher” Program.

Kara Clissold (Office of Research Technologies) presents “Pilot Project Funding: Return on Investment and Impact of a “Core Voucher” Program” during the Lighting Talk sessions

Finally, Patricia Basta, PhD (Director, ������ BioSpecimen Processing Facility) presented a protocol comparison for RNA extraction in Method for Comparison for RNA Extraction to be Used for Potential Differential Expression Analysis of Salamanders Undergoing Winter Dormancy.

Patricia Basta (������ BioSpecimen Processing Facility) was presented with an ABRF Waters Award for her presentation “Method for Comparison for RNA Extraction to be Used for Potential Differential Expression Analysis of Salamanders Undergoing Winter Dormancy” during ABRF 2025.

Notably, Patricia also was awarded one of four ABRF Waters Awards by the ABRF Education Committee. The Waters Award, sponsored by the Waters Corporation, recognizes lightning talks that present original research enabled by advanced life sciences technologies, methods, and software tools. Congratulations, Patricia!

������ Chapel Hill took to the Strip to explore Las Vegas, NV before ABRF 2025 began. From left, Ben Wright, Patricia Basta, Kara Clissold, Holly Dressman, and Gabriela de la Cruz.

The ������-CH contingent also enjoyed the opportunity to connectfurther during a group dinner and exploration of Las Vegas. Join us in Pittsburg, PA March 28-31, 2026, for the next ABRF annual meeting or consider attending the upcoming local ABRF chapter meeting for the Mid-Atlantic Directors and Staff of Scientific Cores (MAD SSci) in Richmond, VA on September 15-17!��

Justin Fousek

In December 2024, Justin Fousek, a Research Systems Administrator II at the e, was awarded a Core Facility Staff Recognition Award in the area of Technical Achievement. His multiple nominators highlighted Justin’s ability to find creative, compliant, and effective solutions to a myriad of technical, logistical, and com problems experienced by his clients quickly and efficiently. His documentation of problems and solutions has also been highlighted as an impactful for his peers. Justin also provides critical infrastructure to other ������ Chapel Hill core facilities, providing an impact to research far and wide across the university. ��

How did you get into your field?

I started working in the IT department at the career center I attended for my last 2 years of high school. This allowed me to learn how to work in a small team and to increase my technical knowledge (networking, troubleshooting, desktop support, image management). This experience landed me my first job at a label company and allowed me to get a few great internships starting my freshman year of university. I started working at ������ Chapel Hill on a contract in June of 2021, I was then hired full-time by ������ in November of 2021.

What is your favorite part of working in your core? What does your average day look like?��

I love working on a small team and being able to help a lot of other teams. I have been able to make a big difference and help a lot of people while seeing the impacts firsthand, something that is not always possible in a large team.

My average day starts by looking at our shared inbox for any tickets that users have submitted and solving them when I can. User requests are my team’s number one priority, after security growth and response. After that, I choose an item off my always increasing list of things to do to grow our infrastructure services and hardware while increasing its security and reliability. Some days, I have meetings with other cores or groups to help with issues or learn what we can do to support them.

My favorite project so far has been automating our Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) and IP Address Management (IPAM) software. Previously, we had a manual process for documenting VM and physical device specifications, tracking which websites were running on which servers, and mapping IP addresses to those servers. I automated all these tasks with over 1,500 lines of code, and I’m very proud of the results.

Who inspires you (alive or deceased)?

My father inspires me every day. As a director of global health and safety, he works tirelessly to ensure that his company’s employees have a safe, OSHA-compliant environment. He is a passionate advocate for their well-being and never compromises on his principles. While I am not a safety professional, I strive to incorporate many of his values into my own life.

At work, I aim to support my colleagues by doing everything I can to help them succeed. Although I do not conduct cancer research, I remain committed to ensuring my colleagues’ technical needs are met so they can thrive in their research. My father and I can both be persistent when it comes to solving problems, but this determination always comes from a shared desire to help others.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work? What is something you’re really good at?

As an Eagle Scout, I love spending time outdoors. I often go hiking with my Fiancée and friends, paddle down a river in a canoe or kayak, or go downhill skiing somewhere on the east coast. I also enjoy tinkering with our 2001 Jeep Cherokee learning some mechanic skills from YouTube and blogs.

I excel at finding new uses for old technology. From a young age, I enjoyed tinkering with gadgets to explore their potential. While many seek the latest and greatest, as a public institution funded by taxpayers, it’s essential for us to maximize the lifespan of existing technology whenever possible—provided it doesn’t compromise quality.

·��������������further increase research collaboration across the state

·��������������increase the marketability of ������ facilities to other institutions

·��������������provide more affordable access to services for researchers at other institutions that may not have as robust of a research infrastructure as ������

Mandy Bush, Directof of the Respiratory TRACTS Core and Director of Research Operations at the Adams School of Dentistry

Congratulations to Mandy Bush, Director of the Respiratory TRACTS Core in the Marsico Lung Institute, on her new additional role as the Director of Research Operations at the ������ Adams School of Dentistry where she previously served as the Research Program Manager since 2022. In her new role she will work closely with the Associate Dean for Research to identify research needs, vision and purpose, as well as managing compliance and research resources. As Director of a ������ Chapel Hill Schol of Medicine core facility that supports translational biomarker discovery, Mandy is well-positioned to support the needs of translational researchers and clinicians across the broader ������ Chapel Hill campus.��

The Respiratory TRACTS core will continue to serve customers requiring biospecimen sample processing and storage, Luminex multiplex assays, ELISAs, plate reads, Nanostring nCounter, and, new for 2025, Olink protein biomarker assays. Mandy and her staff are also available to consult on project needs and future study design. The core is equipped to handle BSL2+ specimens and has specific experience with supporting studies with SARS-CoV-2 samples. Learn more about the core’s services��at their website. ��

��

Congratulations, Mandy!��

We are excited to present our category winners—keep an eye out for special features on each category winner to follow over the next month at: /corefacilities.�� The next Core Facility Staff Recognition Award will be open for nominations in April 2025.����

Aurora Cabrera, a Research Associate in the Michael Hooker Metabolomics and Proteomics (MAP) Core, was selected as the winner of the Performance Excellence award. Her multiple nominators spoke highly of her work ethic and the ownership she takes for whatever project or core initiative needs her attention, from learning metabolomic assay and instrumentation to assuming quality control and technical expertise while a coworker was on leave. Her contributions to the MAP Core and diligent attention to method development and quality control have resulted in multiple new service offerings and technologies, including thermal proteome profiling, multiplexed inhibitor bead studies, and metabolomics. In addition to her scientific and technical skills, Aurora’s coworkers highlighted that she is always a staff member who is helpful, thoughtful, and brings positive energy to her team. ��

Justin Fousek, from the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Bioinformatics Core, is recognized as the winner in the category of Technical Achievement. His multiple nominators highlighted Justin’s ability to find creative, compliant, and effective solutions to a myriad of technical, logistical, and com problems experienced by his clients quickly and efficiently. His documentation of problems and solutions has also been highlighted as an impactful for his peers. Justin also provides critical infrastructure to other ������ Chapel Hill core facilities, providing an impact to research far and wide across the university. ��

Finally, Jade Hollars, a team member of Abacus Evaluation, received the Customer Service award this cycle. Her nominator spoke to Jade’s excellent support of project needs and ability to center, manage, and meet the needs of customers and stakeholders. She is recognized for her ability to develop new solutions and workflows to solve the challenges faced by the core facility, including developing feedback tools for both customers and other team members which have been utilized to improve core communications and services. Jade has also taken initiative and ownership in marketing and communicating core services. Her initiative has resulted in her developing and leading workshop sessions at conferences, attending networking events, and other outreach efforts that have directly resulted in new customers and core collaborations. ��

There were many exceptional nominations to this fall’s award cycle, and we also want to acknowledge the other nominees who are all doing outstanding work in their respective core facilities:������

• Ryan Hansen (CFAR HIV/STD Laboratory)��

• Hao Zhou (LCCC Bioinformatics)��

• Robert “Stew” Little (Biomedical Research Imaging Center)��

• Rachel Coble (Metabolomics and Exposome Laboratory)��

• Daniel Stutts (Zebrafish Aquaculture Core)��

• Taylor Baldwin (Abacus Evaluation)��

“Ear Steps”��(Dr. Ken Hutson, Department of Otolaryngology / Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine)

Light sheet microscopic image from a mouse illustrating the cochlea (end organ for hearing) and its constituents, including spiral ganglion cells and their axons that form the auditory nerve, carrying information about sounds to the brain. Also shown are the vestibular ganglion cells which signal the brain about our balance. All ganglion cells are marked by TuJ1 (green), while specific subsets are also marked by antibodies to Calretinin (blue; high spontaneous firing rate) or to EYFP in NF107:Ai32 mice (red; low spontaneous firing rate). Note that as the auditory nerve enters the cochlear nuclear, each fiber bifurcates to terminate in each division of the cochlear nucleus – the first “steps” for analyzing auditory information in the brain. The image was acquired using the light sheet microscope in the ������ Microscopy Services Laboratory.

“Postnatal Duplex Mouse Kidney Neurovasculature”��(Pierrre-Emmanuel N’Guetta, Jake Roetcisoender, Dr. Lori O’Brien, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, School of Medicine)

This image shows a postnatal P0 mouse kidney immunostained for the renal arterial tree with alpha-Smooth Muscle Actin (SMA, magenta) and nerve with Tubullin Beta Class-III (Tubb3, green) overlayed with oil filter. The image depicts a rare urinary tract congenital defect resulting in ureteral duplication (duplicated collecting system). The kidney was imaged with the LaVision Ultramicroscope II LightSheet using an Olympus MVPLAPO 2X/.5 objective at the ������ Microscopy Service Laboratory.