Department of Gene and Cell Medicine
Department Shared FacilitiesMorphology and Assessment CoreThe Morphology and Assessment Core directed by John T. Fallon, M.D., Ph.D., offers assistance or collaboration to investigators whose basic or clinical research projects require light microscopic and pathologic analyses. This state-of-the-art facility currently serves investigators within the Department of Gene and Cell Medicine, their collaborators, and other investigators at Mount Sinai School of Medicine upon request. The latest equipment allows the staff to provide efficient and reliable services related to tissue processing, sectioning, and staining. The Shandon Hypercenter XP (pictured below) is an enclosed tissue processor, combining the ease of use of the conventional processor with the advantages of advanced technology. It offers the properties of extendible modular, simple operation, and versatile programming with safe and efficient processing. The Shandon Histocenter 2 provides all the components necessary, in one efficiently integrated unit, to effectively perform histological paraffin embedding procedures. Included on the same working level are a temperature-controlled paraffin tank and nozzle used to hold and dispense molten paraffin as needed; a temperature-controlled, three-chamber tissue tank used to hold specimen cassettes, to prewarm empty moulds, and to provide a cassette working area; a fixed-temperature forceps warmer and a pair of electrically heated forceps; an illuminated and temperature-controlled hot plate used as an embedding area; and a cold plate area used to cool the embedded specimens prior to microtomy. The unit also provides complete controls to activate the cooling and heating systems, and set and monitor temperature levels. The Finesse is a precision-engineered bench-top rotary microtome with electronic advance, manual, or motorized cutting. It has been designed for general laboratory use and can be used to section wax-embedded specimens. The rapid sectioning Leica CM1900 cryostat contains a fully encapsulated microtome with an independent specimen cooling system. The Leica DP12 microscope/ digital camera system has a 3.34 Megapixel camera with a 1/1.8" CCD allowing image acquisition at a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. The sleek new DP12 is ergonomic, compact, and engineered for use as both a stand-alone camera or to be interfaced to a PC, offering maximum flexibility. The camera is connected to a Leica microscope for capturing digital images. LocationThe Morphology and Assessment Core is located on the 13th floor of the East Building, Room 13-35. ServicesThe Core staff routinely processes tissue for formalin fixed, paraffin embedded sections and frozen sections; and performs routine histological, histochemical (special stains), and immunohistochemical stainings on paraffin and frozen sections. Appropriate positive and negative controls are included in each staining run to assure reliability of the results and comparability of results from different runs. The Core is a fully equipped histopathology laboratory including light microscopes, cameras, tissue processor, automatic tissue embedding machine, cryotome and microtome. The policies and procedures of the Morphology and Assessment Core follow those of the Histology Laboratory of the Department of Pathology, which is accredited by the New York State Department of Health, by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Hospital Organizations (JCAHO) and by the Clinical Association of Pathologists (CAP). Additional InformationJing Xu |