Connectivity Hub

The purpose of the connectivity hub is to support cutting-edge biomedical research at Arkansas Children's Research Institute (ACRI) by providing investigators with access to key laboratory services and resources.

Goals

Supporting the sample collection, processing and archiving needs of ACRI Investigators. The connectivity hub provides solutions to support biospecimen collection, processing and archiving to maximize the impact of our research.

Providing key analytical services. The connectivity hub provides key analytical services while also connecting investigators with established service cores at ACRI and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Supporting access to key Equipment. The Connectivity Hub oversees ACRI’s shared laboratory equipment ensuring.

Key Service Lines

Sample Processing, Preparation, and Archiving: The connectivity hub offers biospecimen processing and archiving services. These include processing blood samples, tissue, urine, saliva and fecal samples, as well as isolating specific blood cell types. The Connectivity Hub also provides sample preparation services, including fixation of solid samples for histology and the extraction of DNA/RNA from biospecimens.

Clinical Chemistry: The connectivity hub offers blood hematology services, including complete blood cell counts, clinical panels and the quantification of various cytokine and hormone levels in biological samples.

Histology and Imaging:  The connectivity hub provides histology and imaging services through ACNC’s Histology and Bioimaging. It also supports training and access to light- and fluorescent-confocal microscopes at ACRI.

Respirometry: The connectivity hub offers comprehensive high-resolution respirometry services to quantify mitochondrial function in cell and tissue preparations using its Oxygraph-2K (O2K, Oroboros Instruments) and Extracellular Flux Analyzer (XFe, Searhorse Biosciences) platforms.

OLink Proteomics: The connectivity hub offers multiplexed proteomic assays on its OLink platform.