At King’s College London, SCOP (Single Cell Omics Platform) isn’t just a facility, it’s a scientific collaborator. Since opening its doors in September 2023, SCOP has reimagined the “core lab” as an incubator of shared inquiry, where each sample becomes a question waiting to be answered together.
For manager Dasha Freydina and technician James O’Donnell, every day begins not with a to-do list but with a puzzle: How can we help this researcher push past the limits of their data? Whether it’s deconstructing a newly published protocol or rescuing precious, low-viability cells, their ethos remains the same: science advances fastest when expertise is shared, and every experiment is a conversation.
SCOP sets itself apart not just through technical skill but by inviting researchers to look beyond the “safe” option and weigh every viable path to single-cell insight. Manager Dasha Freydina and technician James O’Donnell open each discussion with an inventory of possibilities, asking what will truly serve the science rather than steering users toward a single platform.
“Whatever they want, we can do it,” Freydina emphasizes. “I can give you a brief overview of what’s in our portfolio. You can choose. I can insist on what’s probably better for you, but I want it to be their choice, not my choice.”
That portfolio keeps expanding: Parse Biosciences technology is already on the bench, and plans are in motion to add Illumina’s emerging single-cell line and Scale Bio’s combinatorial indexing kits. By matching assay, budget, material, and timeline, SCOP turns protocol selection into the first act of collaboration.
In a landscape where core-facility "consultations" can feel like quick triage, SCOP leans the other way. One recent session stretched close to three hours, during which Freydina and O'Donnell steered a first-time user from basic single-cell theory to a fully costed experimental roadmap. "By the end of it, Dasha and I pretty much gave them a lecture," O'Donnell recalls, but the payoff was a clear protocol, timeline, and budget the researcher could act on immediately.
The support doesn't end when the meeting does. Each consultation is followed by comprehensive email correspondence summarizing the protocols and methods discussed, complete with prices for relevant kits and services, and an official quotation transforming hours of discussion into actionable documentation.
The length of the meeting is secondary to its purpose: mapping the experiment to reality. "Half of them already know what they want," Freydina explains. "For those who don't, we look at the material they have, how quickly they can collect it, how many samples they can gather, and of course, their funding. All those factors guide which assay we choose". By foregrounding these practical constraints, SCOP turns consultation into co-design, ensuring that every project begins with a plan that is both scientifically sound and logistically feasible.
When researchers arrive with precious but imperfect material, sometimes the only sample they will ever have; Freydina and O’Donnell see a challenge, not a reason to refuse. “Sometimes they say, ‘This is the best we can get,’” Freydina explains. “Some users stop and say they’ll try again. Others insist this is their only chance. We take that responsibility and try to give the best results we can.”
For O’Donnell, success begins long before the cells reach the instrument. “I think it’s the sample prep… We really take the time to explain what they need to bring so they’re not set up for disappointment,” he says. By investing extra hours in careful dissociation, filtration and viability checks, the duo routinely rescue samples other facilities would decline, turning last-chance material into publishable data and solidifying SCOP’s reputation for going the extra mile.
Even when the clock strikes five, SCOP’s benches often stay lit. Researchers sometimes arrive late in the day with fresh samples, and Freydina and O’Donnell would rather start a run immediately than risk degradation overnight. If an experiment falters and material remains, they set up the workflow again on the spot, extending their day to rescue the data. “You cannot say, ‘I’m done at 5 p.m., bye,’” Freydina insists. “You have to finish your work.”
Despite operating with just two staff members and facing the universal challenges of academic funding, SCOP has ambitious plans. Freydina's eyes light up when discussing the possibility of adding 10x Genomics' Visium HD for spatial transcriptomics; a natural extension of their current capabilities that would open new research avenues.
But their vision extends beyond equipment acquisition. They regularly host seminars and workshops, bringing in companies to showcase new technologies. A recent session on Cell Signaling Technology's intracellular protein detection methods exemplifies their commitment to staying at the cutting edge.
"We try to take any opportunity to be trained in new approaches, new protocols," Freydina explains. "Sometimes companies give us kits for free just to prove the technique works. We share all this information with our users, they need to know what's available in the industry”.
Visium HD spatial-transcriptomics sits at the top of SCOP’s wish list which is a logical next step that would let researchers map gene expression with near-histological resolution and push current single-cell projects into three-dimensional territory. “It’s a natural extension of our capabilities,” Freydina says, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of offering true spatial context to their users’ data.
Budget reality hasn’t dimmed their ambition. With just two staff members, SCOP keeps its community on the cutting edge by inviting industry partners onto campus for hands-on demonstrations. A recent session with Cell Signaling Technology showcased an intracellular-protein-detection method, and the company left pilot reagents so the team could validate the protocol before researchers commit scarce grant funds.
Such sessions are more than show-and-tell. They often culminate in manufacturers leaving pilot kits behind so SCOP can validate the methods in-house. “We try to take any opportunity to be trained in new approaches, new protocols,” Freydina explains. “Sometimes companies give us kits for free just to prove the technique works. We share all this information with our users, they need to know what’s available in the industry.”
Operating as a two-person shop demands careful prioritisation, yet Freydina and O’Donnell see growth on the horizon. As their technology roster expands and user demand climbs, scaling the team itself is fast becoming part of the same forward-looking plan.
SCOP’s strongest instrument may be its inbox. “I put myself in the position of someone wanting service. What kind of communication would I want?” Freydina asks. Guided by that question, she and O’Donnell maintain real-time contact from the first cell-quality snapshot to the final QC report, even arranging external sequencing shipments so researchers can stay focused on their science. By treating clear, empathetic updates as part of the experiment, not an add-on; SCOP turns customers into collaborators and transforms a two-person facility into an indispensable partner across King’s College London and beyond.
SCOP’s story offers a blueprint for any research service that aspires to do more than process samples. First, invest in people: carving out hours for one-on-one consultations pays dividends in user confidence and better experimental design. Second, embrace flexibility, whether that means extending the workday to salvage an unexpected batch of cells or trialing three different protocols to find the right fit. And finally, communicate with transparency: from real-time quality checks to sequencing logistics, easing the administrative burden on scientists fosters trust and accelerates discovery.
In an era when automation often eclipses the human element, SCOP reminds us that empathy, patience, and shared ownership of results remain irreplaceable. By treating each project as if it were their own, Freydina and O’Donnell have turned a core facility into a true research partner, one whose success is measured not just in throughput or citations, but in the breakthroughs they enable together.
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