Advanced Genomics Core

The BRCF Advanced Genomics Core is happy to provide letters of support for grant applications.

Email [email protected] to request a letter.

Please include your name and affiliation, the type of application you are submitting, the title of your proposal, the core services you will be using, and a brief description of your project.

The Advanced Genomics Core (AGC) at the University of Michigan, a unit within the Biomedical Research Core Facilities (BRCF), provides centralized, cost-efficient access to advanced genomic technologies and expertise for investigators across the institution. Located in ~11,000 sq. ft. at the North Campus Research Complex, the AGC is a full-service facility staffed by 28 FTEs and led by Thomas Wilson (Faculty Director) and Olivia Koues (Core Director). 

The core supports a wide range of applications, including bulk and single-cell RNA-seq, spatial transcriptomics, microarrays, and custom next-generation sequencing (NGS) workflows. Dedicated informatics staff perform base calling, quality control, and initial data processing, ensuring reliable and secure data delivery to users.

The AGC operates within the broader BRCF structure, one of ten integrated core units under the Medical School Office of Research, which provides centralized administrative, financial, and strategic support. This structure includes faculty-driven advisory oversight and coordinated capital investment planning, enabling continuous adoption of emerging technologies. Reflecting this, the AGC is actively expanding capacity and capabilities, including recent additions of the Ultima Genomics UG100 platform for high-throughput sequencing and advanced in situ spatial technologies. Together, this infrastructure ensures high-quality, scalable, and collaborative genomic research support aligned with institutional priorities.

The Advanced Genomics Core employs multiple mechanisms to ensure rigor and reproducibility in the daily operations of the facility. 

All samples are subjected to quality assessment upon entering the facility, and customers are provided with guidelines for determining if they want to proceed with downstream assays. 

Core methods are well documented in the form of standard operating procedures (SOPs), and assays include appropriate positive and negative controls and contain at least one quality control step to verify the success of the method.  

AGC equipment is subjected to instrumentation management plans, which include preventative maintenance as recommended by the manufacturer. 

Before the release of files, data are subjected to quality control steps, which include verifying that instrumentation performance met manufacturers' specifications and initial data processing steps that ensure assay reagents worked as expected.

Next-generation sequencing projects offer many options. Our website tool is excellent for exploring project parameters and obtaining estimates.

The Advanced Genomics Core holds weekly office hours for project planning and consultation. Please reach out to us at [email protected] if you would like to discuss how our technologies can be applied to your area of research.

Most core services use advanced technologies that are both complex and expensive. 

While we offer these in a fee-for-service format that typically does not warrant authorship, we appreciate the expertise our AGC Research Specialists bring to the University of Michigan Research Enterprise. 

Please support our team by acknowledging AGC services in your publication with a sentence such as the following: “Library prep and next-generation sequencing were carried out in the BRCF Advanced Genomics Core at the University of Michigan.”

For studies that include our single cell or spatial transcriptomics services, please also add the following: Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Cancer Institute of Health under Award Number P30CA046592 by the use of the following Cancer Center Shared Resource: Single Cell and Spatial Analysis Shared Resource.

• Requests for processing samples not specified at the time of the submission may require additional turnaround time and fees above initial estimates.
• The core does not return unused samples or portions of samples. Only submit aliquots to the core; do not submit your entire sample.
• All samples provided by the user will be subjected to quality control. In the case that the user elects to proceed with samples not meeting minimum core requirements (i.e., fail the quality check), the core is not responsible for the quality of the preps or data originating from those samples.
• The user is responsible for downloading all data files provided by the core. The AGC maintains a copy of all data generated for 180 days (~ 6 months). While the AGC may be able to replace lost files after 180 days, it is not a general expectation and will result in additional charges.
• The user agrees to include/acknowledge the use of AGC services in any publications that result from this work.
• The user complies with all institutional, state, and federal rules governing the performance of research involving human or animal samples.