CNSI Technology Centers

People powered, tool enabled, data driven

Electron Imaging Center for NanoMachines

A leader in high-resolution CryoEM imaging

Molecular Screening Shared Resource

State-of-the-art High Throughput Screening

UCLA NanoLab

Fabricating the most demanding nanoscale structures and devices

Advanced Light Microscopy & Spectroscopy Laboratory

Optical microscopy at the limits of resolution

Nano & Pico Characterization Lab

An unprecedented collection of surface analysis instrumentation

EICN provides advanced electron imaging tools operating at scales ranging from micrometers to angstroms and delivers valuable structural information for biomolecular, molecular, and materials sciences as well as cell biology and microbiology.

ALMS supports the application of optical microscopic and spectroscopic methods to achieve high spatial and temporal resolution from whole in vivo animal imaging to sub-70 nm imaging using super-resolution nanoscopy techniques.

NPC offers microscopic techniques to characterize surfaces, adsorbates, nanostructures, materials and devices at the atomic and molecular scales under a wide range of experimental conditions.

MSSR provides industrial strength HTS capabilities at a capacity of >60,000 wells per assay per diem. A full suite of services leverages a curated ~200,000 small molecule library, arrayed genome wide shRNA, cDNA and siRNA libraries as well as CRISPR sets.

The NSF BioPACIFIC MIP operates a one of a kind user facility dedicated to creating a nexus for synthetic biology and materials to revolutionize high-performance polymers.

NanoLab provides access to a 20,000 square foot clean room in two locations on the UCLA campus for nanofabrication and characterization that integrates classic semiconductor tools and processes with biological, chemical, and medical substrates.

The Technology Centers also offer educational opportunities for the general public as well as non-expert academic and industrial communities in the form of tutorials, symposia and hands-on workshops.

Technology Center News and Events

January 4, 2023 | Tiny implantable device designed by UCLA scientists helps kill cancer

January 4, 2023 | Tiny implantable device designed by UCLA scientists helps kill cancer

Now, an interdisciplinary UCLA research team reports encouraging results in laboratory studies testing a tiny implantable device they call a SymphNode, which is designed to keep regulatory T cells in check only in the area around a tumor while summoning and strengthening tumor-fighting cells. The device was shown to drive tumors into remission, eliminate metastasis, prevent the growth of new tumors and result in longer survival in mice.

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October 31, 2022 | Electrons, Cameras, Action!

October 31, 2022 | Electrons, Cameras, Action!

The California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA has changed or added five cameras connected to its suite of six transmission electron microscopes. Taken together, the upgrades will dramatically reduce noise in imaging while increasing efficiency and offering options to meet the distinct needs of different types of investigations. These instruments are available to users from UCLA and beyond at the EICN.

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September 13, 2022 | ‘Glass bubble’ nanocarrier boosts effects of combination therapy for pancreatic cancer

September 13, 2022 | ‘Glass bubble’ nanocarrier boosts effects of combination therapy for pancreatic cancer

Over the past 30 years, progress in early detection and treatment of cancer has helped reduce the overall death rate by more than 30%. Pancreatic cancer, however, has remained difficult to treat. Only 1 in 9 people survive five years after diagnosis, in part because...

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August 16, 2022 | Bruin biophysicist’s research pushes forward development of cultured meat 

August 16, 2022 | Bruin biophysicist’s research pushes forward development of cultured meat 

Now an associate professor of integrative biology and physiology and the holder of UCLA’s Marcie H. Rothman Presidential Chair in Food Studies, CNSI member Amy Rowat has spiced up both her pedagogy and her research with her gastronomic interests. She is founding...

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