High-Throughput Imaging Facility

Core Mission

The High-Throughput Imaging Facility (HiTIF) is a shared, collaborative resource that enables systematic, large-scale characterization of complex cellular phenotypes at the single-cell level for CCR and NIH investigators. HiTIF offers four integrated technology platforms across two complementary areas. In High-Content Imaging (HCI): Arrayed HCI combines automated liquid handling, high-throughput confocal microscopy, and image analysis to test large numbers of RNAi or CRISPR/Cas9 perturbations at the single-cell level; and Pooled HCI extends CRISPR/Cas9 functional genomics screening to pooled lentiviral libraries with imaging-based single-cell readouts. In Computational Analysis: Imaging Bioinformatics (IB) provides custom open-source pipelines for object segmentation, tracking, single-cell quantification, and screen statistics; and Spatial Bioinformatics (SB) applies spatial statistics to imaging- and capture-based spatial profiling datasets. By quantifying rare phenotypic events in heterogeneous cell populations, HiTIF advances functional genomics, chemical genetics, and spatial biology research.