Services and Fees

Please contact Audric regarding services and their availability.

Audric is available to discuss and plan your lipid experiments in advance, and can direct you to other experts in the field when necessary.

Hands-on assistance and consultation is provided to University of Alberta users at no charge. Trainees are welcome to learn to perform sample prep such as lipid extractions and derivatizations in the core facility if needed (users pay for consumables).

Please note that users are encouraged to perform sample prep themselves, as the core is not always available to do this. Lipid extractions, sample derivatization, and transfer of sample into proper vials are all time-consuming tasks and come at an additional cost. Proper vials are available at no charge from the core.

Service Descriptions

Additional Services are available by request. Please inquire. 

Identify, set up, and test chromatographic methods to analyze compounds of interest

Perform liquid/liquid extraction of lipids with/without internal standards > dry samples with inert gas > resuspend in solvent for analysis.

perform extraction as described, plus additional steps (sample-dependent) to derivatize compounds of interest for analysis

Preparation of solid sample for lipid extraction; generally by sonication or manual grinding.

Binding of analyte to column, followed by elution with various solvents to isolate different lipid types; for lipids, this requires specialized glass columns to avoid leachates from plastics.

Low-pressure chromatography, usually (but not exclusively) to generate lipoprotein profiles of cholesterol or triglyceride; for lipoproteins, this is non-quantitative, and generates profiles that can be overlaid for comparison.

Separation and quantification of compounds in the gas phase, on very long capillary columns; also used to assess purity.

High-pressure separation and quantitation of compounds of interest, with various methods of detection; a versatile technique that can be applied to many different molecules; also used to assess purity.

Direct injection and molecular weight measurement by mass spectrometer; can be used in conjunction with HPLC or GC.

Applied when samples are not submitted in proper HPLC/GC vials.

Autonomous User Fees (Internal UofA Only)

Some instruments are available for autonomous use after training. Granting autonomous use is at the discretion of the core coordinator and requires user training ($75/hr).

  • High Performance Liquid Chromatography - $22/hr
  • Gas Chromatography - $11/hr
    Note: User must provide own consumables and purchase vials from the core. 

Service Fees

Effective April 1, 2026.
Prices are per sample unless otherwise noted. 

User Category
Service U of A External Academic Corporate
Custom report $50 $75

$130
New Method Development and Set-up $72/hour labour + materials $97/hour labour + materials

$193/hour labour + materials
Extract/Aliquot $30 $40 $81
Extract/Derivatize/Aliquot $54 $73 $145
Sample Homogenization for Analysis $17 $22 $44
Solid-phase Extraction $25 $37 $65
Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC) $42 $56 $113
Gas Chromatography (GC) $18 $24 $48
High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) $36 $48 $97
Compound Purity by Mass Spectrometry $60 $80 $120
Resuspend/Transfer $6 $8 $16