Research Centers & Facilities
Learn about many of the state-of-the-art research centers and facilities that our researchers and faculty have access to through Stanford’s schools of Medicine and Engineering.
Cell Sciences Imaging Facility (CSIF): provides high resolution, state-of-the-art light and electron microscopy technologies for imaging and analyzing the molecular and structural organization of cells, tissue and bioengineered materials
Computational Services and Bioinformatics Facility (CSBF): provides computer software and support for sequence analysis, molecular modeling, and mathematical and statistical analysis for researchers at Stanford University. The expertise of the staff is available to aid researchers in experimental design and data analysis.
Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility: offers cryo-EM sample screening and training to users at Stanford and provides a bridge to the high-end instrumentation located at SLAC. Located at the Fairchild building on campus, the center includes a 200kV Glacios for high-throughput cryo-EM screening, a 100 kV Morgagni for rapid negative stain EM, and plunge freezing equipment.
Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting Facility (FACS): provides cell analysis and sorting capabilities to Beckman Center researchers, other Stanford research groups, and to the regional biotechnology community
Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology (JIMB): JIMB enables research and collaboration advancing metrology in genomics and synthetic biology. JIMB also supports community-based efforts that bring together stakeholders from academia, government, and industry.
Li Ka Shing Learning & Knowledge Center (LKSC): Positioned in the center of the Stanford University School of Medicine, LKSC offers a diverse array of sophisticated technologies - including one of the largest and most advanced simulation facilities in the country and a high-end video capture system - and represents the latest in medical education. It is designed for interactive, experiential and team-based approaches to learning for people at all levels, from incoming medical students to experienced clinicians.
Lucas MRI Service Center: houses four whole-body MRI systems, which are available on a pay-for-use basis to researchers throughout Stanford University as well as to non-Stanford researchers.
Mobilize Center: an NIH National Center of Excellence in Data Science for Mobile Health, which focuses on advancing data science, impacting health, and sharing resources. The center aggregates data from industry and clinical partners and research labs to tackle 3 specific mobility-related health applications: cerebral palsy clinical planning, gait rehabilitation research, and weight management through physical activity.
Protein and Nucleic Acid (PAN) Facility: offers a diverse array of instrumentation and technical capabilities in molecular genetics and protein analytics with the goal of enhancing research projects and the quality of their publications.
RESTORE Center: This NIH National Center for Mobile Sensing in Rehabilitation will establish vital research infrastructure that enables rehabilitation scientists to use mobile sensors to monitor a diverse set of real-world outcomes by integrating expertise from statistics, computer science, bioengineering, mobile health, and clinical rehabilitation.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory: As one of 17 Department of Energy national labs, SLAC pushes the frontiers of human knowledge and drives discoveries that benefit humankind. The lab's backbone is a 2-mile-long particle accelerator, which generates the world’s brightest X-rays for the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). More than 2,000 scientists come to SLAC each year to use LCLS and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource to probe matter in atomic detail. These X-ray studies help scientists understand the fundamental workings of nature and find solutions to real-world problems.
Stanford Behavioral & Functional Neuroscience Laboratory (BFNL): As part of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, BFNL provides a preclinical discovery platform for CNS target validation in preclinical in vivo and in vitro models. It is a state-of-the art facility designed to serve as a time-efficient and cost-effective service center for researchers in need of behavioral and neuropharmacological analyses in rodents.
Stanford Biostatistics Shared Resource (BSR): provides statistical support to Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI) members, assistiong researchers at each stage of a study’s lifecycle, including project design, mid-study evaluation and the interpretation and reporting of results. A major priority of the BSR is to work closely with SCI members on the development of proposals for submission to NIH and foundations for support of high quality cutting-edge cancer-related research.
Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign: teaches an approach to health technology innovation, called the biodesign innovation process, and provides the knowledge, skills, mentoring, and networking required to deliver meaningful and valuable innovations to patients everywhere. It is regarded as one of the most successful partnerships between academia and the health technology industry. Founded in 2000 by Stanford Bioengineering Professor Paul Yock, this center is dedicated to advanced training in medical technology innovation.
Stanford Center for Innovation in In vivo Imaging (SCi3): a world-class preclinical imaging shared resource providing innovative technologies that enable our researchers to observe, target, measure and ultimately understand biological processes in health and disease in vivo, and to develop novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies.
Stanford ChEM-H Macromolecular Structure Knowledge Center (MSKC): helps Stanford researchers and beyond in the study of macromolecular structure and function, guiding in the productive use of the world-class instrumentation at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory: SSRL, S2C2, and LCLS
Stanford ChEM-H Medicinal Chemistry Knowledge Center (MCKC): helps biologists and clinicians at Stanford to incorporate medicinal chemistry into their ongoing and future research endeavors. Located on the ground floor of the new Stanford CHEM-H building, MCKC consists of ~1,000 sq. ft. of laboratory space and access to state-of-the-art informatics infrastructure.
Stanford Chemistry NMR Facility: houses 5 Varian NMR Spectrometers
Stanford Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine (SCGPM): applies expertise on the science and ethics of genomics to build a new collaborative model of science focused on transforming the practice of medicine, creating a new paradigm of patient-centered medicine that can monitor the entire genome of individuals to vastly improve disease prediction, prevention, and treatment.
Stanford Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory (SCSNL): aims to advance fundamental knowledge of human brain function and to use this knowledge to help children and adults with psychiatric and neurological disorders.
Stanford High-Throughput BIoscience Center (HTBC): Stanford researchers can conduct systematic and comprehensive screens of biological systems involving genetic and/or chemical perturbations. Research conducted in the HTBC will broadly advance our molecular and cellular understanding of human health and disease.
Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI): advancing artificial intelligence (AI) research, education, policy, and practice to improve the human condition
Stanford Magnetic Resonance Laboratory (SMRL): provides top-level research instrumentation in the area of solution-phase, high-resolution NMR spectroscopy
Stanford Microfluidics Foundry: provides integrated microfluidic devices for academic research, with the aim of making microfluidics more readily accessible and promoting its use in a wide variety of applications. Founded in 2005, it is part of Stanford Bioengineering Professor Stephen Quake's laboratory research group.
Stanford Nano Shared Facilities (SNSF): features some of the most advanced nanoscale patterning and characterization capabilities available.
Stanford Nanofabrication Facility (SNF): a shared lab which supports researchers from all disciplines wishing to explore uses of micro- and nano- fabrication
Stanford Predictives and Diagnostics Accelerator (SPADA): assists efforts to research, develop and deploy technologies for improving diagnoses and better predicting the progression of the disease. The launch of this program is one of Stanford Medicine’s major achievements related to the CTSA Program, which offers grants for accelerating clinical and translational research in biomedical and health-related areas.
Stanford Shared FACS Facility (SSFF): provides flow cytometry instrumentation and support to Stanford and surrounding communities, with 10 sorters in various configurations, 5 analyzers, and one mass cytometer.
Stanford-SLAC Cryo-EM Center (S2C2): We develop an experimental and computational methodology for cryo-electron microscopy and tomography and their applications to a broad spectrum of biological systems from molecules to cells essential to understand various biological processes. Professor Wah Chiu directs the Stanford-SLAC CryoEM Center (S2C2), which provides the global biomedical community access to state-of-the-art cryoEM instruments for data collection for high-resolution macromolecular structure determination, and offers training to scientists to be capable of conducting cryoEM structure research.
Stanford Synthetic Biology (SB): From nature to culture, from governance to infrastructure, from commerce to fashion, we are advancing synthetic biology holistically among all layers of civilization. The Stanford Synthetic Biology (SB) community enables inter- and ante-disciplinary activities supporting an ecosystem of research and learning. Our holistic approach tracks across and among diverse areas of work, each exploring fundamental questions or possibilities while addressing societal needs or human wishes.
Transgenic, Knockout, and Tumor Modeling Center (TKTC): produces in vitro and in vivo models to support research in a variety of different fields and applications. The center's goal is to provide the scientific community inside and outside of Stanford with the intellectual and technical expertise to develop the right “lever” they need to address their research questions.
UCSF-Stanford Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI): a joint effort among members of a world-class team of highly collaborative scientists at UC San Francisco, Stanford University, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The two academic institutions and the FDA work together on projects that promote regulatory science (the science of developing new tools, standards, and approaches to assess the safety, efficacy, quality, and performance of all FDA-regulated products) — in partnership with foundations and commercial entities interested in the development of FDA-approved medical products. The center collaborates, in particular, with the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and high-tech industries of the San Francisco Bay Area and the West Coast.
Vincent Coates Foundation Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (SUMS): Beyond making available state-of-the-art, user-friendly facilities and services, the laboratory enables education, methods development, and new applications development, designed to meet the rapidly evolving needs of researchers. Due to the essential information that mass spectrometry provides to researchers in the fields of the physical and life sciences, medicine, and engineering, the laboratory serves as an “intellectual watering hole” at the crossroads of diverse disciplines.