Welcome!
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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.
In 2018-19, UT Southwestern embarked on an ambitious gene therapy program, the future of curative medicine, by establishing Viral Vector Core lab and GMP AAV Viral Vector production facility to serve its own clinical studies and the community at large. Through building a professional team of unique expertise and collaborative efforts with multiple stakeholders, our goal is to establish a highly efficient full-service viral vector production facility that can respond timely to provide AAV-based research reagents and services to investigators at UT Southwestern, as well as to facilitate translational research applying gene therapy approaches to treat genetic disease. The objective is to deliver the highest quality AAV vectors to our academic, government, foundation, and biotech industry clients.
Mission
Our primary mission is to serve the research community at UT Southwestern by providing AAV vectors and associated services for gene therapy translational studies. Through dedicated efforts of highly skilled professional investigators, collaborators and foundations, we will bring the future of gene-based medicine into the present.
Vision
To be a leading gene therapy program, locally, nationally and globally.
Team Values
Production Facility
The Translational Gene Therapy Core (TGTC) - previously known as Viral Vector Core - is located on the 4th floor of the Green Research Building (Building Y) on UT Southwestern’s south campus. The space includes separate suites for Process Development, Quality Control (Y4.206) and GMP AAV Viral Vector production facility (Y4.230).
Our Production Platform
Our production process utilizes triple-transfection of suspension HEK293 cells, using serum-free media. Our GMP production suite can utilize a 500 L bioreactor for a single production run. Downstream purification of AAV relies on filtration, concentration, and chromatography steps without the use of density gradients. We maintain consistency of our manufacturing process across all production scales (0.5 L to 500 L), to ensure comparability of the product throughout the translational pipeline.
Steven Gray, Ph.D. | Director, Translational Gene Therapy Core (TGTC)
steven.gray@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-0670
Samer Dahshi, M.S. | TGTC - Operations Manager
samer.dahshi@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-7164
| Hours | Location |
|
Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm |
Y04.214 |
| Name | Role | Phone | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Gray, Ph.D. |
Director,Translational Gene Therapy Core (TGTC)
|
214-648-0670
|
steven.gray@utsouthwestern.edu
|
NA02.508AA
|
| Samer Dahshi, M.S. |
Operations Manager - TGTC
|
214-648-7164
|
samer.dahshi@utsouthwestern.edu
|
Y04.214
|
| Service list |
| ► Production (15) | |||
| Name | Description | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25L Standard Research AAV prep (CsCl method 250ml) |
250ml AAV Prep CsCl method |
Internal
$1,200.00
each
External $2,400.00 each UT System/In Network $1,800.00 each |
|
| 0.5L-scale research AAV prep CsCl |
500ml AAV prep CsCl method |
Internal
$1,700.00
each
External $3,400.00 each UT System/In Network $2,550.00 each |
|
| 1000L-scale production lot |
Column Chromatography Method |
Inquire | |
| 1L-scale research AAV prep |
Internal
$2,750.00
each
External $5,500.00 each UT System/In Network $4,125.00 each |
||
| 500L-scale production lot |
Column Chromatography Method |
Inquire | |
| 50L-scale Tox production lot |
Tox run execlude externally performed QC release testing |
Inquire | |
| 6L-scale research AAV prep |
Column Chromatography Method |
Inquire | |
| AUC Project (Empty vs Full Analysis) for AAV |
at least 0.5 mL of sample,Concentration ~ OD280 to be between 0.1 and 0.8 AU, ~ 1E13 vp/ml in buffer equal volume of the buffer that the sample is in; need to know the composition of the buffer. |
Inquire | |
| DLS for AAV product |
Sample concentration (~A280 >= 0.1 OD),a lower concentration may also work. 20 uL would be enough to run. |
Internal
$125.00
each
|
|
| Plasmid Ratio Study |
Internal
$7,330.00
each
External $14,660.00 each Commercial/Industry $21,990.00 each |
||
| 2L-scale research AAV prep |
Internal
$4,850.00
each
External $9,680.00 each |
||
| 4L-scale research AAV prep |
Column Chromatography Method |
Internal
$9,500.00
each
External $19,000.00 each |
|
| 10L-scale research AAV prep |
Column Chromatography Method |
Internal
$19,250.00
each
External $38,500.00 each |
|
| 20L-scale research AAV prep |
Column Chromatography Method |
Internal
$31,350.00
each
External $62,700.00 each |
|
| 50L-scale research AAV prep |
Column Chromatography Mehtod |
Internal
$105,000.00
each
External $192,000.00 each |
|
| ► Reserve Equipment (2) | |||
| Name | Description | Price | |
| ddPCR equipment reservation including Oils |
The cost includes the following per plate run (Plate Not included)
|
Internal
$340.00
/hr
External $680.00 /hr |
|
| qPCR LightCycler 480 without reagents (~3hrs Slot) |
Uitilize the equipment for a single batch run without reagents from the core (~3hrs Slot) |
Internal
$80.00
/hr
External $160.00 /hr |
|
| ► Samples (19) | |||
| Name | Description | Price | |
| Biodistribution qPCR per tier 1 (1-36 samples) |
Internal
$275.00
each
External $470.00 each |
||
| Biodistribution qPCR setup fee (IND-enabling) | Inquire | ||
| Biodistribution qPCR setup fee (standard) | Inquire | ||
| ddPCR Bio Distribution Study |
ddPCR Bio Distribution Study, running gDNA plates and cDNA plates, each plate for gDNA and each cDNA accomadate about 44 samples per plate unit. Pricing is per unit run |
Inquire | |
| ddPCR design |
Internal
$350.00
each
External $700.00 each |
||
| ddPCR Method Qualification |
ddPCR Method Qualification |
Inquire | |
| ddPCR titer (1-8 samples) | Inquire | ||
| ddPCR tittering Project |
Titer by ddPCR method, primer & Probe design & Preperation Project to be discussed with Core to estimate cost. |
Inquire | |
| ELISA Testing (VP) 1-8 Samples |
Internal
$468.00
each
External $936.00 each |
||
| ELISA Testing (VP) 17-24 Samples |
Internal
$787.00
each
External $1,574.00 each |
||
| ELISA Testing (VP) 25-32 Samples |
Internal
$990.00
each
External $1,980.00 each |
||
| ELISA Testing (VP) 33-40 Samples |
Internal
$1,320.00
each
External $2,640.00 each |
||
| ELISA Testing (VP) 9-16 Samples |
Internal
$605.00
each
External $1,210.00 each |
||
| Endotoxin Removal and Testing |
Includes initial Endotoxin Testing then Removal Column and Final Endotoxin Test |
Internal
$225.00
each
UT System/In Network $450.00 each External $560.00 each |
|
| Endotoxin Testing |
Includes final prodcut testing and results only; no removal process. |
Internal
$95.00
each
External $190.00 each |
|
| Potency Testing |
Internal
$5,000.00
each
|
||
| vg / vp Titer by Stunner |
Titer by Stunner can be run only on a purified samples with titer that is higher than 1E12; it takes only 2ul sample and can be performed in less than 5 minutes |
Internal
$20.00
each
External $40.00 each |
|
| Vg Virus Titer (AAV) by qPCR (1-2 Samples) |
Internal
$105.00
each
External $210.00 each |
||
| Vg Virus Titer (AAV) by qPCR (3-8 Samples) |
Internal
$130.00
each
External $260.00 each |
||
