About Us
The Columbia University Senescence Tissue Mapping (CUSTMAP) Center is a highly collaborative effort built on long-standing partnerships between Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), The University of Edinburgh, New York University (NYU), and the New York Genome Center (NYGC). Using state-of-the-art spatial genomics technologies and leveraging our established experimental workflows and analytical pipelines, CUSTMAP generates three-dimensional maps of senescent cells in tissues vulnerable to age-related degenerative processes, focusing on the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). We perform spatially resolved transcriptomics (ST), single-nucleus RNA-sequencing, and multiplexed proteomics using iterative indirect immunofluorescence imaging (4i) experiments in central nervous system tissues across the human lifespan, allowing for unprecedented genome-wide molecular characterization at single-cell resolution in space.
CUSTMAP is structured around three scientific cores: Biospecimen Core (BIO), Biological Analysis Core (BAC), and Data Analysis Core (DAC). An Administrative Core supports their integrated efforts.