About Us

The GSAF is a full service sequencing core that provides both Sanger and Next Generation Sequencing services, in addition to a library prep and quality check services, open access to equipment and training. The GSAF works directly with the bioinformatics core who can provide assist in any of your analysis needs to data storage solutions.

We are housed in approximately 2,000 square feet of controlled-access laboratory space and are an experienced NGS facility. Launched in 2008, the GSAF currently processes over 10,000 NGS samples per year.

Instruments in our lab:

Illumina NovaSeq 6000 (one)
Illumina MiSeq sequencers (three)
Illumina NextSeq 500 sequencer (two)
Covaris S220 and E220 Adaptive Focused Acoustic shearing devices
Agilent BioAnalyzer 2100
Agilent TapeStation
Invitrogen Qubit fluorimeter and Thermoscientific Fluoroskan
Tecan Evo and Hamilton Nimbus
10x Chromium system
Ion Torrent S5

Lab protocols we are experienced with:

Creation of fragment DNA sequencing libraries for all Illumina next-gen sequencers
Creation of mate-pair sequencing libraries between 1.5kb and 4kb for Illumina next-gen sequencers
Creation of RNA-seq libraries from total RNA, small RNA, and immuno-precipitated RNA for Illumina next-gen sequencers
Creation of amplicon libraries (particularly 16s and ITS regions) for the Illumina next-gen sequencers
Human exome and custom capture with the Agilent SureSelect, Illumina TruSeq, and Nimblegen SeqCap EZ kits
Sample and library QC using the Agilent BioAnalyzer, Picogreen and Ribogreen fluorimetry, qPCR, and spectrophotometry

Computational and software resources:

The bioinformatcis group maintains a wide range of tools for NGS analysis and assembly and can assist with all of your analysis needs, please visit them here.
Need your own server or access to one of ours, here is an explanation of the Biomedical Research Computing services with instructions for getting an account.
In addition, the GSAF uses and works with the TACC bioinformatics group, supporting tools and applications suitable to the TACC environment.
Want to get started? Contact us
New to Unix? Check out some Unix and Perl resources for beginners.

Our Mission and Vision

Vision: The GSAF’s vision is to be a world-class genomic analysis center in terms of data quality, breadth of available methods, and productivity.

Mission: The mission of the Genome Sequencing and Analysis Facility is to provide the best quality analytical results with the best value to life science researchers.

Our People

Jessica Wheeler Podnar
Director
(512) 232-5924
MBB 3.210
gsaf@utgsaf.org

Jessica is a graduate of Southwest Texas State University and began her career in Cell and Molecular biology over 16 years ago when she started at a biotech company in Reno, NV focused on telomere biology. Her next endeavor led to the Genomic Sequencing Facility where she began as the Lab Manager in June 2010, where her role continued to grow and now serves as the Director. Over the years her experience has covered a wide range of applications, ranging from cell culture, multiple NGS platforms, protocol optimization and development, lab and personnel management all the way to establishing pricing structures and policies for the facility. She is also an active member of the Association for Biomolecular Resource Facilities and serves as the chair for the DNA Sequencing Research Group.

Gabriella Huerta
Research Engineering Scientist Associate IV
(512) 475-9725

Gabriella manages the Illumina sequencing operations and contributes to all aspects of the genomic sequencing enterprise. Every library barcode, concentration and quality control metric is carefully scrutinized by Gabriella, as she performs the complex task of setting up the sequencing runs to assure the highest quality results. With prior experience running NGS operations at Perlegen Sciences and Pfizer, Gabriella has the depth of experience to get the jobs done right.

Holly Stevenson
Research Engineering Scientist Associate IV

Holly is a PhD scientist with prior experience applying and tailoring genetic technologies to cancer research and clinical studies at the National Cancer Institute. She joined GSAF in 2017 and has over 15 years of experience in molecular biology methods. She currently aids customers by preparing a variety of DNA/RNA libraries, assists in operating our Illumina sequencers, and helps in testing and implementing new NGS services.