PROJECT SUMMARY Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) application 5P20GM139762 established the Translational Hearing Center (THC) at Creighton University with Boys Town National Research Hospital and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, as institutional partners The goal of the COBRE has been “to build a critical mass of academic translational researchers developing therapeutic interventions to preserve or restore hearing and vestibular function from a wide range of etiologies that cause hearing loss and vestibular deficits”. A key aim of the COBRE is to develop infrastructure to support innovative research by THC investigators. Toward that goal, this equipment supplement requests funds to replace and upgrade an obsolete FACSAria II cell sorter with a state-of-the-art Bigfoot five-laser 53 parameter cell sorter from Life Technologies Corporation (hereafter termed “Bigfoot”). The Bigfoot’s gentle, but rapid, sorting and spectral analysis capabilities will enable THC researchers to more readily identify and characterize cells involved in the etiology and progression of disorders leading to hearing loss, and open new avenues for high-throughput screening within the COBRE’s Drug Discovery and Delivery Core Facility. The integration of the Bigfoot within an intentionally designed biosafety cabinet will vastly improve personnel safety and diminish potential sample contamination compared to the existing FACSAria II cell sorter. By placing the Bigfoot within an established multi-user Flow Cytometry Core Facility, we will ensure proper instrument oversight, management, use, and training, which will facilitate investigator access, reliability, and student learning. The Bigfoot’s greater complementarity with an existing BioRAD ZE5 flow cytometer (analysis only; no sorting capability) will reduce the need to alter antibody panels used for multi-color analysis and sorting, offer new opportunities for high-dimensional analysis, and provide a backup for unexpected repairs of the BioRAD ZE5. Institutional support for the acquisition of the Bigfoot is demonstrated through a 1:1 match to funds that would be awarded for this supplement. Overall, the Bigfoot is expected to enhance not only the research infrastructure available for THC investigators, but have broad positive impact on the Creighton research community as a whole.