Project Technical Resources

The Project Technical Resources team comprises highly trained and flexible staff assisting various team projects and laboratories. Our specialists and technicians may be dedicated exclusively to one large team project for the entire life span of the project, or they may be point persons for specific assays and as such assist multiple projects, large and small.

We help to jump-start new team projects through reassignment of experienced staff who know the in and outs of Janelia’s workings, or through training of new team members. This novel concept also provides a measure of stability for project staff, specifically for those high performers who wish to continue working at Janelia after completion of a specific project.

The team effectively liaises with Janelia Shared Resources and Scientific Computing to facilitate the efficient progression of projects. 

• Technical support for Janelia team projects. Ongoing projects are focused on high-throughput endeavors to define the anatomy, function, and organization of neuronal circuits in the fly and other model organisms. New projects in the areas of mechanistic cognitive neuroscience (MCN) and 4D Cellular physiology (4DCP) are expected to come online. Project team support is our highest priority, and we will assign the most experienced staff members available to new projects as they arise.

• Preservation of technologies and technical skills developed in team projects beyond the lifetimes of individual projects for future requirements in team projects and Janelia laboratories.

• Transfer of practical skills. In collaboration with the project teams, we provide protocols, advice, and hands-on training for researchers who wish to perform experiments that use methods established in team projects..

• Technical support for Janelia laboratories. We assist a broad range of smaller projects using established techniques (such as dissecting and staining fruit fly or larval zebrafish brains) or leveraging the diverse experience within the team to help develop new methods. 

• Collaboration with CellMap. Methodology in CellMap continues to develop. At the same time, multiple labs require assistance for voxel-based annotations. PTR staff is trained by the CellMap team to accommodate such requests expertly.

• Collaboration with Project Pipeline Support (PPS), a new team established in 2022, that supports large-scale projects. We coordinate efforts as they shrink and grow over time to adjust flexibly to demand and to make the best use of resources within both teams. This synergy is also leveraged to cross-train staff in different areas.