Washington University Histology Innovation & Service Center (WHISC)

Overview of Services

Washington University Histology Innovation & Service Center (WHISC) is composed of two separate facilities:

Animal Research Histology Facility 

• This facility provides full technical services for histology and morphological investigations to support experimental biology throughout the Washington University research community.  The facility is currently staffed by an experienced, board-certified histotechnologist.  The primary mission of this facility is to provide services designed to create histologic slides from tissues for analysis.           

Brain Microanatomy Histology Facility

• We provide expertise and services in the planning, implementation and interpretation of experiments to study the cellular network of the brain. The facility provides cryostats, microtomes and vibratomes for sectioning non-human brain tissue, operated by either staff or trained investigators. For projects aimed at network connectivity, we offer stereotaxic tracer injections and tissue processing. The services include transcardial perfusion, brain sectioning, immunohistochemical staining, in situ hybridization, RNAScope and tissue preparation for spatial transcriptomics. Basic imaging tools are available in the facility. Services requiring tissue clearing, slide scanners, confocal and multiphoton microscopes are available in the NeuroWUCCI. Researchers are billed for services provided. 

Leadership

Linda Richards, Ph.D. | Chair of the Department of Neurosciences

Lila Solnica-Krezel Ph.D. | Chair of the Department of Developmental Biology

Andreas Burkhalter, Ph.D. | Professor of Neurosciences

David Ornitz, M.D., Ph.D. | Professor of Department of Developmental Biology

Location and Hours of Operation

Animal Research Histology Facility 

Brain Microanatomy Histology Facility

Links and Resources

1. Animal Research Histology Facility
2. Brain Microanatomy Histology Facility

Contacts