Electron Microscopy

Center for Cellular and Molecular Imaging (CCMI) Electron Microscopy Facility is a full-service core facility administrated and financially supported by the Dean’s office in Yale Medical School. To meet growing demands of biological and cryo electron microscopy on campus, Yale University has been investing in the state-of-the-art technologies and equipment, we provide a wide range of EM services and work closely with investigators on their research projects. The facility is located at Sterling Hall of Medicine (333 Cedar Street), suite IE-26. Anyone who wish to start an EM project or access to facility equipment should contact the facility director Xinran Liu at (203) 785-4050 or by email to xinran.liu@yale.edu.

Yale has a long history of excellence in biological electron microscopy, it started with Dr. George Palade, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist and founder of modern cell biology. He pioneered the use of electron microscopy and other techniques to discover tiny structures within cells and to discern their functions, his work established our basic understanding of cellular organization. Over decades, the EM facility has been continuously providing cutting-edge EM techniques to investigators for their research projects. We routinely prepare samples, perform various EM imaging and assist users. The range of services cover from standard transmission and scanning electron microscopy for ultrastructure, high-resolution protein localization to tomographic 3D rendering of the whole cell using focused-ion-beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM). We also provide training to researchers who would like to independently perform electron microscopy or utilize microscopes and other instrument in the facility.

The Cryo EM Facility started in the Departments of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Physiology many years ago. To better support growing cryoEM demands, it has been integrated into the CCMI EM facility as a YSM Central Core to service the cryoEM community at Yale. Because of the complex nature of cryoEM projects, we do not offer direct services. Instead, interested investigators are encouraged to meet with facility staff to discuss the feasibility of their project and training. In general, new users are trained by facility staff and expected to perform cryoEM experiments independently in the facility. Where necessary, additional training and assistance are available.

The information concerning all cryo EM resources across Yale campus can be found at the dedicated page: https://cryoem.yale.edu.