Backed by generous funding from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), the BIOM-Mass (Biobank for Microbiome Research in Massachusetts) project is a collaboration with the Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Cohorts Biorepository. BIOM-Mass comprises five major facilities for end-to-end microbiome collection, analysis, and research that supports large-scale microbiome studies, including a flagship collection of oral and gut microbiome samples from 25,000 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study II.
Harvard T.H. Chan BiOS Freezer Core
Population-scale microbiome sampling results in many thousands of oral and fecal microbiome sample aliquots that must be cataloged and stored for future sequencing and other analysis. Our BiOS Freezer Core automates the process of sample storage, tracking, and retrieval, and currently houses over 100,000 sample aliquots with space for many more.
Harvard T.H. Chan Microbiome Analysis Core
The Harvard T.H. Chan Microbiome Analysis Core (HCMAC), established to advance the rapidly emerging field of microbiome science, aids in human microbiome study design and interpretation, helping researchers develop and apply quantitative methods to investigate the role of microbial community function in health. HCMAC provides a critical foundation for advancing the frontiers of human microbiome research, providing cutting-edge analytical tools and technologies needed to help scientists mine the extraordinarily rich and complex data that is central to microbiome discovery, research and development. Analysis experts at HCMAC partner with internal and external investigators for projects spanning human and animal microbiomes with dozens of different research interests. Learn more about HCMAC’s microbiome analysis services!
Harvard T.H. Chan Gnotobiotic Facility
The Harvard Chan Gnotobiotic Facility houses mice that harbor defined microbial communities through highly controlled husbandry and monitoring procedures. Such animals can lack microbes (germ-free), contain microbes from a human donor sample (microbially ‘humanized’ mice), or be constructed with highly defined microbial communities ranging from one to hundreds of microbes. The study and use of such mice enables investigators to grow and expand microbes that will not grow in vitro and also enable the screening of bioactivity of microbes and microbial communities. Our Gnotobiotic Facility provides cutting-edge capabilities to generate and maintain gnotobiotic mice from a variety of genetic backgrounds, under varied environmental and dietary conditions, and for molecular and physiological readouts ranging from microbiome sequencing to histology and immunology.
BIOM-Mass Data Portal
The BIOM-Mass Data Portal was created to manage and share data from microbiome epidemiology studies conducted by the HCMPH. The data portal houses and provides access to raw and processed datasets including 16S rRNA gene amplicon profiles, metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, and metabolomes as well as information about the samples and subjects such as phenotypes, demographics, and technical protocols.
