Services

The provision of HCMCC services is concentrated around the following aims:

1. Consultation and assistance
Provide consultation and assistance in microbiome sample collection plan development. This includes consultation on collection kit configuration and contents, shipping, processing, storage plan development, and requirements for subsequent data generation.

2. Ordering and tracking
Support ordering and tracking of customizable microbiome collection kits. HCMCC kits are mailed through the designated carrier to selected clinical sites or participants. After collection, kits can be returned through pre-paid shipment to selected labs and biobanks, or to BIOM-Mass at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for sample processing and storage.

3. Sample handling, sequencing and storage
Provide assistance in sample handling, sequencing, and storage. When needed for a project, HCMCC kits can be returned through pre-paid shipment to BIOM-Mass at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where a liquid handling robot splits tubes into ~500µl aliquots for -80°C storage operated by the BiOS Freezer Core. Aliquots can be retrieved through BiOS LIMS and sent to selected labs for meta’omics and metabolomic profiling.

Microbiome Sample Collection Kit

The HCMCC kit avoids the need for expensive, bulky, and inconvenient ice packs by providing several different room temperature storage media that are also compatible with multiple different molecular assays including any combination of amplicon (16S / 18S / ITS), metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing, and metabolomics.

The kit further includes a culture-compatible collector using anaerobic media that yields live microbes for culture or gnotobiotic experiments, as well as user-friendly instructions and standardized questionnaires to capture recent medications, diet, and oral and gastrointestinal health status.

Please contact us at hcmcc@hsph.harvard.edu for consultations, service requests, or to discuss a collaboration.

References

• Integrative, H.M.P.R.N.C. The Integrative Human Microbiome Project: dynamic analysis of microbiome-host omics profiles during periods of human health and disease. Cell Host Microbe 16,276-289 (2014). PMID: 25211071
• Franzosa, E.A. et al. Relating the metatranscriptome and metagenome of the human gut. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111, E2329-2338 (2014). PMID: 24843156
• Schirmer, M. et al. Dynamics of metatranscription in the inflammatory bowel disease gut microbiome. Nat Microbiol 3, 337-346 (2018). PMID: 29311644
• Franzosa, E.A. et al. Gut microbiome structure and metabolic activity in inflammatory bowel disease. Nat Microbiol 4, 293-305 (2019). PMID: 30531976
• Everett C, Li C, Wilkinson JE et al. Overview of the Microbiome Among Nurses study (Micro-N) as an example of prospective characterization of the microbiome within cohort studies. Nat Protoc. 16(6):2724-2731 (2021). PMID: 33883746.