Hosted in Las Vegas, NV from March 23 – March 26, 2025, the Association for Biomedical Resource Facilities (ABRF) annual meeting brought together more than 900 core directors, staff, administrators, scientists, and vendor partners from around the United States (and beyond!) to provide a critical opportunity for education, connection, and celebration among the core community. 听
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (黑料网-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, 黑料网 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. 听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 黑料网 Neuroscience Microscopy Core.
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 黑料网 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 黑料网 Chapel Hill to break down barriers and increase transparency between these units. 听
Four 黑料网-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. 听Her talk focused on the workflow and challenges of incorporating and
optimizing new technology into a core facility.
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, 黑料网 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 鈥淐ore Voucher鈥� Program.
Finally, Patricia Basta, PhD (Director, 黑料网 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.
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!
The 黑料网-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!听