March 2026 RRN Feature: CRConnect
The March 2026 issue of the Research Resource Nexus highlights CRConnect, a shared resource that provides flexible, cost-efficient clinical research coordinator support across disease states and disciplines at the University of Pittsburgh. CRConnect operates as a fee-for-service model within the Clinical Research Support Office (CRSO) and offers full-service coordination or as-needed support depending on an investigator’s needs.
February 2026 RRN Feature: Innovative Technologies Development Core and Mouse Embryo Services Core
The February 2026 issue of the Research Resource Nexus highlights the Innovative Technologies Development (ITD) Core and Mouse Embryo Services (MES) Core, which work together to provide investigators with the knowledge and experience to produce new and custom genetically engineered mouse models.
January 2026 RRN Feature: Shared Resources and iLab
The January 2026 issue of the Research Resource Nexus newsletter provides an overview of the shared research resources that support biomedical investigators at the University of Pittsburgh and introduces iLab, the web-based asset management tool Pitt implemented to streamline access to these resources.
Specialized Datasets Drive New Discoveries
After nearly eight years of coalition building, Pitt is opening a new Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC)—a secure data facility managed in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University and the U.S. Census Bureau.October 2025 RRN Feature: Organoid Research Core
The Organoid Research Core (ORC), located at The Assembly in Shadyside, contains a large collection of patient-derived organoids (PDOs) from both healthy and breast cancer tissue. PDOs are generated by dissociating tissue, embedding it in an extracellular matrix, then expanding it into a 3D structure. As a result, PDOs recapitulate the tissue they originated from in function, structure and biological complexity. PDOs serve as a valuable tool in personalized medicine applications, such as drug screening and disease modeling.
August 2025 RRN Feature: Genomics Analysis Core and Bioinformatics Core Facility at CHP
Previous editions of the Research Resource Nexus introduced the Center for Advanced Genomics and the data production core labs represented there. This web hub will soon be reconfigured to include information on finding analytical support for genomic data, including the analytical services provided by the following facilities:
June 2025 RRN Feature: Center for Advanced Genomics: Single Cell Core
This month the Research Resource Nexus continues our series on the Center for Advanced Genomics, an umbrella website designed to help investigators determine which of the member cores is the best fit for their project needs. Member cores include:
May 2025 RRN Feature: Center for Advanced Genomics: Health Sciences Sequencing Core
Last month the Research Resource Nexus introduced the Center for Advanced Genomics—a centralized website designed to help investigators determine which of the center’s member cores best fit their project needs. Member cores include
April 2025 RRN Feature: Center for Advanced Genomics: High Throughput Genomics Core
Massively parallel next-generation sequencing technology is an essential tool that supports a wide range of biological research from whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to single-cell analysis and spatial transcriptomics. The University of Pittsburgh has multiple cores that provide sequencing services, each with its own concentration and skill set. The Center for Advanced Genomics is an umbrella website designed to help investigators determine which member core best supports their project needs. Member cores include the following:
February 2025 RRN Feature: Research Histology
Histology studies the microscopic structure of biological tissues and involves processing and staining biological specimens for visual analysis. These staining methods require specialized skills that come only with hands-on experience. Histological work is also time-consuming, expensive and often constrained by limited sample quantities. As a result, principal investigators frequently face difficulty maintaining trained operators as students and technical staff rotate in and out of the lab. Histology cores offer a solution.
November 2024 RRN Feature: Unified Flow Core
The ability to phenotype mixed cell populations and to isolate specific cell types for controlled analysis has broad application in biological research. This breadth of utility makes cytometers and cell sorters ideally suited for placement in a shared resource setting. This month we introduce the Unified Flow Core (UFC), the primary flow cytometry and sorting resource at the University of Pittsburgh.
September 2024 RRN Feature: Health Services Research Data Center
In the age of generation, analysis and reanalysis of large multidimensional datasets, shared resources centered on computing infrastructure, data management and analysis have become as essential to the research mission as those focused on wet lab applications. In this edition of the Research Resource Nexus, we introduce the Health Services Research Data Center, a shared resource that maintains a secure computing infrastructure for HIPAA-protected data and the support services to use it effectively. Please note: This facility does not provide statistical analysis.
June 2024 RRN Feature: Small Molecule Biomarker Core
Last month’s Research Resource Nexus edition provided information on Pitt’s mass spectrometry resources for the global analysis of proteins, lipids and small molecules. This month, we introduce the Small Molecule Biomarker Core, which provides expert mass spectrometry support for specific and targeted biomarker applications.
May 2024 RRN Feature: Mass Spectrometry Core
Instruments that support cutting-edge methodologies are often too expensive for the average principal investigator to purchase and maintain. These instruments also require operators with specialized training and knowledge and offer experimental capacity beyond the needs of a single lab.
Institutional shared research facilities make these specialized technologies available and enable groundbreaking discoveries by sharing ownership and operation costs and by employing instrument specialists to minimize costly operator errors.