Facilities: AMCB Graduate Program
The University of Florida is a public, land-grant, research university located in the north-central Florida city of Gainesville. The University is ranked among the nation's leading research universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education and is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. Graduate enrollment at the University of Florida (~9,100) has increased within the present decade. Unique features that provide and support an excellent training environment for study in the area of animal biotechnology are discussed above and below.
Animal Facilities
The Department of Animal Sciences maintains numerous facilities for maintaining research animals including an experimental dairy farm milking >600 cows/day, two research units for beef cattle located within 15 miles of Gainesville, and an experimental farm for pigs, sheep, and pig units adjacent to the Animal Science Building. Facilities at the College of Veterinary Medicine for maintaining animals on pasture as well as the Metabolic Building and Food Animal Barn are well-equipped for maintaining large animals under confinement. Environmental chambers capable of regulating photo-period and temperature for animals as large as ponies and experimental surgery theater equipped for all domestic species is located within the Animal Science Building.
Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research (ICBR)
The ICBR is a federally and state-funded program established on the University of Florida campus to enhance the development of biotechnology through development of core laboratories, support of faculty and technician positions and education. The ICBR core laboratories provide equipment, space, technical expertise, and training for all interested users on the University of Florida campus. The ICBR also hosts and funds interdisciplinary seminars and symposia by noted biotechnology scholars, facilitates the exchange of biotechnology information and expertise among faculty, and provides training in biotechnology skills for faculty, students, and teachers through seminars, courses, training programs and a newsletter.
McKnight Brain Institute
The McKnight Brain Institute houses several state-of-the-art research facilities, some of which are the only ones of their kind in the world. These facilities utilize and integrate into the institute's information technology infrastructure.
Laboratory Equipment
In addition to access to all major, multiple-user equipment necessary to do modern biotechnology research, laboratories of AMCB faculty are well equipped with equipment for routine and specialized procedures of cell & molecular biology (sequencing, electrophoresis units, thermal cyclers, bio-reactors, incubators, sterile hoods, fluorescence plate readers, luminometer, etc.), biochemistry (electrophoresis, FPLC and HPLC systems, etc.), immunology (ELISA plate readers, dot blotting apparatuses, etc.), microscopy (light and fluorescence microscopes, dissecting and inverted microscopes, computer-based image analysis systems) and cell culture (culture rooms, laminar flow hoods and incubators). In addition, students learn to use major multi-user equipment located in ICBR laboratories (e.g., phosphorimager, flow cytometer, confocal scopes, electron microscope, real time PCR sequence detection system) because of the ICBR's commitment to graduate education, willingness to train students and easy access (all located on campus) to these instruments.
A list of core equipment (purchased with AMCB funds) that is available to all members of the AMCB is as follows:
Bio-Rad TC20 Automated Cell Counter - Binelli Lab
Andor DSD2 Spinning Disk Confocal - Bromfield Lab
Chromium X Series Single Cell Instrument - Yue Lab
Other Facilities
The Marston Science Library and the J. Hillis Miller Health Center Library contain an extensive collection of journals and books to meet the needs of students in the program.