The University of British Columbia Genes, Cells and Circuits (UBC-GC2) platform for next-generation multiscale brain research

Brain dysfunction – which impairs both physical and mental health – is one of the greatest challenges to individual and societal well-being today. There is an urgent need for research that deepens our understanding of human brain function, and to use this knowledge to accelerate therapeutic breakthroughs. The University of British Columbia Genes, Cells, and Circuits (UBC-GC2) Platform will address this challenge by uniquely integrating cutting-edge microscopy and gene-expression technologies, enhancing brain research across distinct experimental settings. Led by Dr. Mark Cembrowski and a team of researchers at UBC with support by expert personnel, UBC-GC2 will establish a pipeline that combines functional mapping of cellular-resolution neuronal activity with static data-rich snapshots of neural circuits, cell types, and constituent molecules. Key infrastructure components of UBC-GC2 will include a Two-Photon Imaging Foundry for microscopy to record cellular activity at wide fields of view, and a Cleared Tissue Processing and Imaging Suite with microscopy and genomics equipment for high-sensitivity examination of brain tissue. The UBC-GC2 platform will enable groundbreaking experimental paradigms across a variety of brain disorders and diseases, applied in both living human brain tissue as well as in vivo and ex vivo analyses of rodent models. UBC-GC2 is a BC-based project, but our research deliverables will be available to local, national and international researchers, facilitated by a variety of remote access options as well as an in-person “Collaborative Residency” program. Consistent with our commitment to Open Science, UBC-GC2 will provide freely accessible data, results, analysis methods, and technological advances to the neuroscience community. With cutting-edge technology, expert personnel, and an integrated and open approach, UBC-GC2 holds immense potential to advance fundamental neuroscience knowledge and drive breakthroughs in the discovery and development of next-generation therapeutics.

This project is supported by the Brain Canada Foundation, via an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) and Brain Canada Foundation, and is further supported by the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health and the UBC School of Biomedical Engineering.