Technology Development Lab

The NYGC's Technology Development team drives genomics and single-cell innovations, transforming research into practical tools through collaboration and integration.

Overview of Technology Development

The mission of the Technology Development team is to discern, transform, integrate, and translate innovative and pioneering research into practical scientific tools and methodologies within the genomics and single-cell technologies domain. Operating at the core of the New York Genome Center, the team collaborates synergistically with all other NYGC departments and cultivates productive bilateral relationships with external academic and industry research partners. This collaborative approach facilitates the transition of promising technologies originating from the laboratory bench into the public domain, addressing societal needs and, critically, fostering research innovation and discovery.

The Technology Development team has spearheaded numerous projects. Beyond individual research publications, our team is committed to advancing groundbreaking assays. We meticulously optimize and evaluate state-of-the-art technologies, collaborating to provide services that, while not yet scalable, harbor the potential to identify and transform the most promising ones into fully scalable workflows. These refined workflows are then seamlessly integrated into the NYGC production lab, ensuring future processes are both efficient and scalable.

Seven scientists in a lab pose for a team photo

Multimodal Single Cell & Spatial Technology Platforms

The Technology Development (TechDev) Lab at the NYGC has broad experience with different single-cell/nuclei platforms and several tissue types. By developing new protocols and methods and optimizing or improving current ones, TechDev is part of original and innovative projects.

Cell Hashing single cell and single nuclei RNA sequencing
Cellular Indexing of Transcriptomes and Epitopes by Sequencing (CITE-Seq)
Expanded for CRISPR-compatible CITE-Seq (ECCITE-Seq)
ATAC with Select Antigen Profiling by Sequencing (ASAP-Seq)
DOGMA-Seq using the 10X Genomics Chromium Single Cell Multiome ATAC + Gene Expression
Single cell ONT Long Read Sequencing (scONT-seq)
Direct Library Prep Plus (DLP+)
Spatial Transcriptomics using 10X Genomics Visium Spatial Gene Expression

Research Projects

While single-cell genomics has improved our understanding of endometrial cellular heterogeneity, little is known about the precise composition of cellular networks across diverse and especially underrepresented ancestries. Under the umbrella of the Ancestry Networks for the Human Cell Atlas from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), and in collaboration with Semir Beyaz’s research group from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NYGC’s TechDev and CompBio departments are undertaking a synergistic effort to comprehensively map the human endometrium in diverse ancestries. A multi-omic approach is being applied on nuclei isolated from a biobank of cryofrozen human specimens to generate an integrated gene expression and epigenomic state atlas. For this approach we will utilize the Chromium Single Cell Multiome ATAC + Gene Expression product (10X Genomics) together with nuclear hashing.

The comprehensive understanding of the repertoire of cells in the CNS and their respective role in health and disease is key to elucidate the selective and age-related loss of motor neurons (MNs) in patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In collaboration with researchers from Hemali Phatnani’s lab and Vilas Menon’s lab, we are interrogating postmortem human spinal cord tissue from ALS-patients. We have optimized a protocol specific for single-nuclei isolation from human spinal cord tissue to apply to in a multi-omic approach, including ATAC and gene expression profiling at the single-cell level. The technological tools developed will be of great utility to a broad life science audience, and the data obtained will contribute to shed more light on the dysfunctional pathways involved in ALS.

Gastric Cancer (GC) is a heterogeneous disease and the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. In a multi-disciplinary approach, NYGC’s TechDev and Innovation labs, in collaboration with Columbia University, propose to elucidate on the cell(s) of origin of GC and define the underlying mechanisms that promote the emergence of early neoplasia. To map the origins of specific cell populations, we will study the interplay between epithelial cellular features and the microenvironment with single cell multi-omic (single nuclei- RNA-Seq and ATAC-Seq) and spatial profiling on stomachs of genetically modified mouse models. This study will improve our knowledge regarding the tumor microenvironment involved in promoting GC progression.

Guiding Values of the Technology Development Team

Societal Impact
Transformation, integration, and translation of new technological discoveries and innovation, with maximization of its impact, to the benefit of the scientific community.
Investment in Research
Fuel continued innovation in technology development to promote growing groundbreaking discoveries and ensuring technology development to the fullest potential.
Leadership
Leader in pioneering the development of innovative technology to represent excellence in the field.
Partnership and Collaboration
Serve as a trusted and creative partner with academic and industry collaborators to cultivate bilateral growth in technology development.
Responsible Stewardship
Serve as a responsible collaborative steward with the NYGC departments and stakeholders, as well as academic partners and associate members.
Ethical Integrity
Adhere to the highest ethical standards in all dealings and relationships, to protect research integrity and exemplify excellence.