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CRF resources and facilities | Research support facilities | Antimicrobial research facilities |
Cancer research facilities | NIHR regional infrastructure | NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre 

Research support facilities

We work with a wide range of facilities at University Hospital Southampton and the University of Southampton, including specialised laboratories, biobanks and advisory services to provide the support you require to carry out your research.

CRF laboratories
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The CRF has four laboratories on Level C of the hospital, with two standard preparation labs, a containment Level 3 laboratory and a cell culture laboratory, as well as freezer and laboratory storage rooms.

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Techniques available for investigators in these laboratories include:

  • isolation, identification, cultivation and quantification of respiratory pathogens

  • enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

  • fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH)

  • preparation of samples for confocal microscopy/electron microscopy (in association with the University of Southampton's Biomedical Imaging Unit)

  • filmarray testing for bacteria, viruses, yeast, parasites and/or antimicrobial resistant genes

  • cell isolation, isolation of primary cells for culture, and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) isolation

  • cytology, histology, immunochemistry, immunology, virology and microbiology​

Female scientist in a lab

​Mass Spectrometry (MS) laboratory

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The MS laboratory, based on Level D of the hospital, is focused on lipidomic and targeted metabolomic phenotyping for clinical translational studies, including use of stable isotopes to monitor metabolic flux.  

 

Techniques available for investigators in this laboratory include:

 

  • direct infusion lipidomics by triple quadrupole MS (TQMS)

  • supercritical fluid (SFC) UPC2/TQMS for metabolomics

  • ion mobility quadrupole time of flight MS for detailed structural analysis

  • high mass accuracy MS for elemental composition

  • MALDI and DESI MS imaging

  • online breath analysis by SIFT MS

  • analysis of stable isotopes by isotope ratio MS

  • membrane inlet MS for volatile low mass molecules

Male scientist in a lab

Wessex Investigational Sciences Hub (WISH) laboratory

 

The CRF provides laboratory management to the WISH laboratory, located on Level F of the hospital. 

 

Established to meet the needs of industry partners, the laboratory delivers bespoke, quality assured translational research services to the regulatory standards required for the analysis of samples from clinical trials. It is used for validated phase I trial analytics and clinical research covering cancer immunotherapy, respiratory, nutrition and stratified medicine programmes.

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Techniques available for investigators in this laboratory include:

  • Next generation, targeted and microbiological sequencing

  • extensive flow cytometric phenotyping or cell sorting

  • class 2 tissue culture or tissue dissociation

  • a wide range of biochemical or protein analyte measurements (multiplex Luminex, Thermo Konelab 20 clinical chemistry analysis, HPLC, ELISA and ELISPOT)

    • WISH lab scientist on duty
    NIHR BioResource Centre Southampton

     

    The CRF jointly funds the NIHR BioResource Centre Southampton with the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). It is one of 13 centres across England building a national panel of research-ready participants. It aims to make recruitment to clinical research and trials of new drugs or treatments more efficient by improving access to research volunteers. Using the NIHR BioResource, you can screen samples from more than 150,000 participants for your genes or variants of interest before you select participants. 

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    Southampton Clinical Trials Unit

    Our researchers can work with the University of Southampton's Southampton Clinical Trials Unit (SCTU) to benefit from their expertise in the design, conduct and analysis of multicentre interventional clinical trials.

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    Imaging facilities

    We work with the University of Southampton's imaging facilities to provide access for CRF researchers who require it. These include the the Biomedical Imaging Unit, the µ-VIS X-Ray Imaging Centre and the Imaging and Microscopy Centre.

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