MEI Lab — An Integrated, High-Capability Environment for Pharmaceutical Innovation

The MEI Lab is designed as a fully integrated discovery pipeline that unifies advanced chemical synthesis, LNP engineering, high-throughput screening, and high-resolution biological analysis within a single coordinated environment. This structure enables trainees to progress seamlessly from designing new materials to formulating nanoparticles to evaluating functional and immunological outcomes — all with exceptional efficiency and rigor.

Our chemical platform includes modern synthesis and purification capabilities, such as automated flash chromatography with ELSD detection and TLC-MS integration, supporting rapid, iterative development of novel ionizable lipids and conjugates. These materials transition directly into our formulation and characterization suite, where controlled, clean-environment LNP preparation and precise particle analytics form the foundation of delivery-system optimization.

On the biological side, in addition to cell culture facilities, the MEI Lab incorporates true high-throughput capability through microfluidic liquid handling, automated plate-based workflows, and a high-end ELISPOT/FluoroSpot system capable of antigen-specific, single-cell immune profiling at scale. This is complemented by live cell high-content confocal imaging, enabling mechanistic analyses of uptake, trafficking, immune activation, and cellular remodeling across thousands of experimental conditions when needed.

The combination of high-throughput screening, high-content imaging, functional immunoassays, and direct delivery analytics creates a rare, end-to-end platform for evaluating both biochemical design and biological performance at depth and throughput.

Beyond our in-house infrastructure, trainees benefit from the University of Utah Health Science Campus’ extensive core-facility ecosystem — including flow cytometry, proteomics, genomics, metabolomics, histology, transgenic cell/model, and advanced microscopy — further expanding experimental breadth and translational relevance.

Together, this ecosystem positions MEI Lab as one of the most capable and efficient environments for delivery-science innovation, ideally suited for trainees who want to work at the intersection of chemistry, nanomedicine, and immune engineering and who aspire to contribute to high-impact therapeutic development.

  • UTAH!

  • HTS/HCI Confocal

    ImageXpress Micro Confocal High-Content Imaging System with environmental control for live cell imaging (4X, 10X, 20X, 40X + Cy3, Cy5, FITC, Texas Red, DAPI + Bright Field & Phase Contrast)

  • HTS ELISPOT

    CTL S6 Flex M2 ImmunoSpot - Automatic ELISPOT & 4-Color FluoroSpot Analyzer. Plate format: 24/48/96/384/1536 and Terasaki + Strip plate in 96-well format. Applications: Single-Color ELISPOT; Double-Color Enzymatic ELISPOT; Four-Color FluoroSpot; Four-Color Fluorescence BioSpot; Live/Dead PBMC Counting; Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity Assays

  • HTS NIR Imager

    Li-Cor Odyssey CLx Near-infrared (NIR) Imaging System for HTS In-cell/On-cell/Membrane WB & RNA/DNA gel imaging. Scanning Surface: 25 x 25cm glass plate Resolution: 21um - 337um 700 Channel Laser Source: Solid-state diode laser at 685nm; 800 Channel Laser Source: Solid-state diode laser at 785nm

  • HTS Liquid Dispenser

    DescriptionMantis® - Microfluidic-based HTS Automatic Liquid Dispenser (microtube, microplates for up to 96/384/1536 wells, min 0.1µL/dispense) goes here

  • LNP Formulation

    [Clean LNP formulation Station] UV/HEPA-filtered PCR Laminar flow cabinet with a microfluidic-based LNP formulation system

  • ZetaSizer

    Malvin Zetasizer Nano ZS90 for measuring Lipid Nanoparticles' particle size and zeta potential.

  • Cell Culture

  • Chem Hood

    8-feet Chem Fume Hood with fitted Schlenk Line for chemical works

  • Chemistry

    Chem - Flash Chromatography & Evaporation Station

  • Auto Flash Chromatography (ELSD)

    Automatic Flash Chromatography Purification System: Tyledyne CombiFlash NextGen300+ with UV-VIS & ELSD detectors + Nitrogen generator for ELSD detector

  • Nitrogen Generator for ELSD

    PEAK Corona 1010 Air Compressor & Nitrogen Generator for the ELSD detector. (Max = 5L/min)

  • Rotary Evaporator

    Ecodyst Hydrogen Performance Rotary Evaporator + PC 3001 VARIO® Select chemistry pumping unit (Dry ice-free, -40C in 5 min)

  • Compact Mass Spectrometer (CMS)

    Compact MS/TLC-MS work station - with coupled Tyledyne M1 HPLC solvent pump & Peak Scientific NM32LA LC/MS Nitrogen Gas Generator & CAMAG TLC-MS interface for isolating samples from TLC spot - streamlining MS measurement.

  • TLC-MS Interface

    CAMAG TLC-MS Interface: For transferring TLC samples directly to mass spectrometry for ESI-MS measurement - streamlining chemical synthesis/purification works

  • Automatic Western Blot Processor

    BlotCycler - Automatic Western Blot Processor

  • Refrigerated microcentrifuge

    Refrigerated microcentrifuge (Eppendorf 5430R)

  • Floor Shaker

    Thermo Scientific MaxQ 5000 Floor Shaker for Cloning-realted Works

  • Gel Station - Power Supply

    Invitrogen PowerEase Touch 350W Power Supply

  • New List Item

    Description goes here

  • PCR

    ProFlex PCR System with the 3 x 32-well block

  • Cell Seperator

    MACS MultiStands with OctoMACS™ & QuadroMACS™ Separators

  • Mixer

    Eppendorf ThermoMixer® C with ThemoTop

  • Mixer & Vortexer

  • Vortex Mixer

  • Balances

  • LN2 Tank

  • HPLC Pump

  • Heat Plates

    General reagent preparation

  • 96/384 Microplate Washer

    Agilent Biotek 405 Select TS Automatic Microplate Washer for 96-/384-well (+cell) washing with Dual-Action 96-tube (8x12 x 2)

  • Cell Culture - Tank Guard

    TankGuard Automatic CO2 Incubator Tank Switcher

  • Cell Culture - Incubators

    Dual Stacked Thermo Scientific Heracell VIOS 160i CO2 Incubator

  • Cell Culture - Centrifuge

    Eppendorf 5810R Refrigerated Centrifuge

  • Electrophoresis

    For nucleic acid gels

  • Heat Plates

    For general chemical reactions

  • Safety Goggles

  • Freezers & Refridgerators

    4C, -30C, -80C

  • Electronic Micropipettes

    Various

  • Single Cell Dispensor/Sorter

    Namocell Microfluidic Single Cell Sorter/Dispenser