Then, you can click here to apply to use the NMR Center's facilities.

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To: Potential NMR Center Users
From: Chien Ho, Director
DATE: September, 2007
Re: NMR Facilities Available to Biomedical Community
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The Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research is a research and technology development facility supported by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Pittsburgh NMR Center houses a wide variety of instrumentation for Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that is available for use by the greater scientific community. This letter is intended to inform you of the resources available in the Pittsburgh NMR Center as well as our policies regarding the use of the facility.

Instrumentation: There are three Bruker AVANCE NMR instruments available for routine in vivo investigations. Two of the scanners are equipped with horizontal bore magnets, a 4.7 Tesla / 40 cm magnet and a 7.0 Tesla / 20 cm magnet. The third instrument is equipped with a vertical bore 11.7 Tesla / 8.9 cm micro-imaging magnet. These instruments are capable of performing MR imaging and in vivo spectroscopic measurements (1H, 2H, 13C, 19F, 23Na, and 31P) with small to medium size animals. Each of these systems is equipped with a broadband r.f. channel for spectral editing and/or nuclear spin decoupling. The instruments are also fully integrated with physiological monitoring and gating capabilities.

The maximum usable magnet diameter is 30 cm for the 4.7 T system and 12 cm for the 7 T system when surface coils are utilized. For the 4.7 T system, 20 cm, 15 cm, 72 mm and 36 mm diameter coils are available for proton imaging. For the 7 T system, 72 mm, and 36 mm diameter coils are available. Surface coils and smaller imaging coils may be fabricated in the NMR Center to suit individual projects. The 11.7 T system has several r.f. coils for MR microscopy with sizes ranging from 38 to 2.5 mm in diameter. The 11.7 T system may also be utilized for imaging mice and small rats (< 200 g) in vivo.

The Pittsburgh NMR Center maintains a Bruker Minispec operating at 20 MHz (1H) that may be used for relaxation measurements of tissue samples, contrast agents, and other preparations. In addition, the NMR Center has access to several Bruker AVANCE high-resolution NMR spectrometers operating a three field strengths: 7 T (300 MHz, 1H), 11.7 T (500 MHz), and 14 T (600 MHz).

Application Procedure and Use Policies: Applications to use the facilities of The Pittsburgh NMR Center are reviewed by center's Scientific Advisory Committee semiannually. An application form is included with this letter for your convenience. The short research proposal should consist of five sections: (i) scientific rational and significance, (ii) proposed methods, (iii) NMR equipment needs, (iv) estimation of instrument time requirements for the project, and (v) source of funding for the project. All of the research proposals will be scored on scientific merit and suitability to the facilities of the NMR Center. A recommendation on equipment needs and instrumentation time is then forwarded to the NMR center's external advisory committee and the executive committee for final approval.

Instrument time for each approved project will be allocated on a 6-, 9- or 12-month basis depending on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee. If your project is approved you will be notified in writing, and should contact the NMR Center Manager, Dr. Kevin Hitchens, for scheduling instrument time. All experiments involving animals must be reviewed and approved by the IACUC at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, or your institution.

For 2007-08 the fee for using the Pittsburgh NMR Center will be $65 per hour for researchers from academic institutions. When using the NMR center facilities, all users are expected to bring their own supplies; there is only limited space for storage. In addition, animals used in experiments may only be housed in the NMR center for a maximum of one day. Our facilities consist of holding rooms only; housing of animals on a long-term basis is not possible.

All users are required to acknowledge experimentation preformed at the NMR center in manuscripts submitted for publication. Specifically, one should state in the acknowledgement section: The Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (P41-EB001977).

Application Deadline: If you are interested in making use of the Pittsburgh NMR Center for your research, please complete the enclosed form and research proposal application. This form should be returned by October 15, 2005 to be considered for the spring Scientific Advisory Committee meeting. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Kevin Hitchens, Manager (412-268-1993), Michelle Waters, Administrative Associate (412-268-6337), or myself (412-268-3395).

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