CFU Assay Course-CA-Spring

This hands-on training program from STEMCELL Technologies teaches the fundamental principles and practical techniques of the colony-forming unit (CFU) assay, a foundational method in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell research. Participants learn how to prepare methylcellulose-based culture media, plate freshly isolated or cryopreserved bone marrow or cord blood mononuclear cells at standardized densities, and identify and enumerate erythroid, myeloid, and mixed lineage colonies after a 14-day incubation period at 37 degrees C with 5% CO2. The course combines didactic lecture sessions with supervised bench work, covering topics such as cell sourcing, viability assessment, the role of recombinant cytokines and growth factors, scoring criteria, and troubleshooting common artifacts including clumps and satellite colonies. Attendees also receive guidance on documenting results, photographing representative wells, and integrating CFU outputs with flow cytometry data for downstream research applications. Delivered in a classroom setting in California during the spring session, the program includes printed course materials, all reagents for the wet-lab portion, and a certificate of completion. The training is offered to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and laboratory technicians who are establishing or expanding a cell culture workflow, helping them achieve reproducible colony scoring and consistent assay performance across independent experiments.