PATHOLOGY

Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Magazine

Latest Research Developments

MAPcore: Bridging the Gap between Discovery Science and Precision Medicine at UBC

— Molecular Advanced Pathology Core (MAPcore) The University of British Columbia
Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBC
Vancouver General Hospital

MAPcore was established in 2021 to provide UBC researchers with the necessary infrastructure to validate genomic and biological discoveries into clinical diagnostic or therapeutic targets. As a key platform of the FoM’s Academy of Translational Medicine, MAPcore serves as the primary conduit between discovery science and precision medicine. Equipped with two Leica Bond Rxs, a high-throughput Leica AT2 brightfield slide scanner, a Zeiss AxioScan.Z1 fluorescence slide scanner, and HALO image analysis suite, MAPcore is primed to support basic and advanced histopathological and AI research needs.

By scanning thousands of Hematoxylin and Eosin slides, MAPcore has facilitated the creation of an image database for AI training.

Our basic histology services have led to high impact research and complex outputs. Dr. Ali Bashashati’s AI Pathology group has taken advantage of our high throughput Leica AT2 brightfield slide scanner. By scanning thousands of Hematoxylin and Eosin slides, MAPcore has facilitated the creation of an image database for AI training. This training will go on to assist general pathologists in identifying ovarian cancer histotypes with higher accuracy, leading to better patient treatments and outcomes.

Over the last two years, we have received over 300 service requests and have supported molecular pathology projects throughout the UBC community. In particular, the only for service NanoString GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler in BC located at MAPcore has been put to great use by implementing the Spatial Whole Transcriptome assay for both murine and human genomes. Projects such as: investigating Hodgkins Lymphoma for Dr. Christian Steidl, fungal infections for Dr. James Kronstad, prostate cancer for Dr. Martin Gleave, and neuropathology for Dr. Veronica Hirsch-Reinshagen.

Your Image
Your Image

MAPcore also specializes in development of custom 7-colour multiplex immunofluorescence panels. Our expertise inherited from 20 years of GPEC legacy, has allowed us to build valuable panels for use on human, murine, xenograft, TMA and organoid tissue. Many of Dr. David Huntsman’s graduate students have incorporated these panels into successfully defended theses and publications. In addition to the beautiful imagery that these panels provide to a publication, the quantitative data available through advance HALO analysis of images is limited only by one's imagination!

MAPcore has also assisted many researchers with budgeting and generating pilot data for large grant funding competitions. We would like to highlight the success of Dr. Jessica McAlpine in receiving the 2022 Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grant. The project aims to refine molecular classification to improve treatments for patients with endometrial carcinoma, and MAPcore played a pivotal role in supporting the preliminary research enabling this success, and we will continue to work with Dr. McAlpine’s team in achieving their project goals.

Built from a team that have worked together for over 20 years, MAPcore represents a tremendous opportunity for our pathology community to accelerate and advance research. We look forward to working with each and every one of you in creating partnerships, supporting ideas into successful grants, and facilitating discoveries into clinical action. Please visit our website to browse our services, submit a request, or check out our FAQ and resources.

If you are interested in inquiring about our services, please email us at map.core@ubc.ca . For more information, please visit our website at https://mapcore.med.ubc.ca .