The CNSI Technology Centers provide unrestricted access to fully integrated R&D infrastructure, professional support and collaborative research opportunities in the fabrication, characterization and screening of nanomaterials, systems, and devices. Directed by a group of leading scientists, the Centers develop technologies that promote discovery through direct grant support, user proposals and industrial partnerships. Access to these facilities is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for students, postdocs, staff, faculty and industrial scientists, and is managed through the CNSI Laboratory Management System (CLMS).
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.
INML offers epitaxial services to address future technological needs using two, interconnected molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) systems for materials synthesis, growth monitoring, and characterization.
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
March 28, 2023 | 5 Questions with CNSI’s Haley Marks
Haley Marks is a project scientist for the Advanced Light Microscopy Lab (ALMS) at the CNSI at UCLA. She is a biomedical engineer with a specialty in nano-biosensor research, translational medicine, and optics education. Since joining CNSI in 2022, Haley has served as...
March 23, 2023 | CNSI adds new capabilities to probe the mechanical properties of materials
An Anton Paar Modular Compact Rheometer 302 (MCR 302) has been recently validated and added to the resources at the Nano and Pico Characterization Laboratory, one of six open-access CNSI Technology Centers. The MCR 302 is available to researchers from UCLA, other...
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.
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.
October 12, 2022 | Upgraded cellular and volumetric imaging available to users at UCLA facility
To expand the understanding of fundamental processes in living things, researchers often need to capture images of biological dynamics spooling out over fractions of a second or volumetric data over periods of days. Investigators looking to create knowledge about such...
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...
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...
July 27, 2022 | UCLA’s state-of-the-art, high-tech NanoLab is open to all
The UCLA NanoLab recently went through a multimillion-dollar upgrade to create the state-of-the-art, integrated spaces made possible by a combined investment from UCLA Samueli , CNSI and the office of UCLA’s vice chancellor of research. ...
May 4, 2022 | UCLA Engineers Develop Phage Therapy to Kill Bacteria
Bacterial infections are becoming increasingly difficult to treat due to antibiotic resistance built up by bacteria as they evolve and adapt to medication. UCLA biomolecular engineers and their colleagues are developing an alternative therapy to treat wound infections...
May 3, 2022 | UCLA researchers develop non-destructive image processing method for advanced cancer research
A team led by Professor Shimon Weiss and former PhD student Arkaprabha Basu has developed an image processing technique, SPOCC, which quantifies cytoskeletal properties using microscopic images. UCLA researchers develop non-destructive...
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