ALERT

ATTENTION ⚠️

In observance of a holiday, Agilent CrossLab/iLab Operations Software Support Help Desk will be closed during U.S. hours on Friday, July 4th, 2025. We will resume regular U.S. support hours on Monday, July 7th, 2025. EU and APAC Support will remain open during this time. For urgent matters, please add "Urgent" to the ticket/email subject or press "1" when prompted to escalate a call on the iLab Support phone, and we will prioritize those requests first.

About

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 

Hours Location

Monday - Friday

9am-4pm                                                      

375 McDonnell Sciences Building

St. Louis, MO 63110

 

Brain Microanatomy Histology Facility

Hours Location

Monday - Friday

8am-4pm                                                      

4370 Duncan Ave

7352 Fort Neuroscience Research Building

St. Louis, MO 63110

Links and Resources

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

Contacts

Name Role Phone Email Location
Director
Director of the Washington University Histology Innovation & Service Center (WHISC)
 

 

 

 
Marina Platik
Animal Research Histology Facility: Staff Scientist - Research Animal Histology
 
314-362-4933
 
mplatik@wustl.edu
 
375 McDonnell Sciences Building
 
Rebecca Mellor
Brain Microanatomy Histology Facility: Staff Scientist - Brain Microanatomy Histology
 

 
rmellor@wustl.edu
 
7352 Fort Neuroscience Research Building
 
Toni Hill
Administration: Pre-clinical Business Manager
 
314-402-7588
 
tonihill@wustl.edu
 
3901 South Building
 
Brittni Martin
Administration: Administrative Coordinator II (billing)
 
314-273-3027
 
b.martin@wustl.edu
 
3901 South Building
 
Kathleen Lutker
Histology Technician
 

 
lutker@wustl.edu
 
375 McDonnell Sciences Building