Core Facilities

Built for ambitious research

Investigators at UofL have access to a broad range of core facilities spanning the biomedical sciences, engineering and other disciplines.

Core facilities are specialized research laboratories staffed by skilled, dedicated scientific personnel and equipped with sophisticated instrumentation, providing researchers across the university with advanced research services and direct equipment access to pursue ambitious research. Many cores also welcome external users, including academic researchers and industry partners.

The strategic research infrastructure division of the Office of Research and Innovation partners with units across the university to build, coordinate and strengthen core facilities as foundational components of UofL’s research infrastructure.

Louisville Research Cores

Louisville Research Cores (LRCs) represent the premier tier of UofL core facilities, recognized for their commitment to best-in-class operations, rigorous management and responsive scientific services. LRCs function not only as service providers, but as strategic infrastructure assets that elevate UofL’s research enterprise and competitiveness.

The Advanced Computing Core has been formed to extend the scope of the resources and services provided by the research computing team to enable cutting-edge research at UofL and beyond.

The Bio Electron Microscopy Core provides biological electron microscopy services including sample preparation, SEM and TEM imaging, array tomography and cryo-EM plunge freezing.

The Biophysical Core supports structural biology studies by characterizing biophysical properties of biomolecules and their interactions with binding partners or drug candidates.

The Cleanroom is a 10,000 square foot cleanroom facility providing nanofabrication and microfabrication equipment and services for academic and industry researchers.

The Imaging and Characterization Core provides advanced imaging and characterization capabilities including SEM, AFM and infrared thermal microscopy supporting research in engineering, materials science, biology and more.

The Medicinal Chemistry Core provides medicinal and organic chemistry support for drug discovery, specializing in lead optimization and synthesis of compound libraries.

The Molecular Modeling Core provides computational biology services including molecular dynamics simulations, drug screening and docking, biophysical calculations and figure generation.

The NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) Spectroscopy Core provides access to high-field NMR instrumentation, expert technical support and data analysis services for biomolecular structure, dynamics and metabolomics studies.

The Protein Expression and Purification Core provides purified proteins through expression optimization, large-scale expression, isotopic labeling and protein refolding services.

The Proteomics Technology Center provides comprehensive proteomic analyses using LC-MS platforms, supporting post-translational modifications, protein-protein interactions, spatial proteomics and single-cell workflows with bioinformatics.

The Sequencing Technology Center provides genomics services including next-generation sequencing, single-molecule real-time sequencing and single cell/spatial transcriptomics.