Shared Resources
Laboratory Instrumentation
Faculty Director: Alan F. Lau, PhD

The Laboratory Instrumentation Shared Resource (LISR) is responsible for the repair and maintenance of laboratory research equipment that are located in the Cancer Research Center laboratories located at Lauhala Street, Kakaako campus, and a freezer storage facility on the University of Hawai‘i Manoa campus. The LISR contains the equipment and tools necessary for the repair and maintenance of scientific instruments and the fabrication of small instruments and devices required for laboratory research projects. The repair of major and minor scientific equipment in shared and Principal Investigator laboratories is performed by a full time Research Equipment Technician. A small number of special instruments are maintained by manufacturer service contracts. These repair and maintenance activities are supported by the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant, charge backs to individual Principal Investigators, and institutional support. The LISR also supports the replacement of non-functional or outdated laboratory equipment.

The LISR maintains a Microscopy and Imaging Facility and a Flow Cytometry Facility and is involved in maintaining a freezer storage facility for patient and study participant specimen materials and other basic research samples. All ultra-low mechanical freezers and the research cold room located in the Center are remotely monitored, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Research Equipment Technician is on-call to respond to all freezer failures detected by this monitoring system. Upgrades to this system have been made to accommodate newly acquired freezers. The Resource also operates, maintains, and periodically tests the Cancer Center's generator at Lauhala Street that provides emergency power during intermittent outages or severe interruptions resulting from natural disasters, such as hurricanes. The LISR is also involved in maintaining a liquid nitrogen generator that provides liquid nitrogen for storage Dewars and cooling purposes.