News

Note: for the most up-to-date information regarding instrument status see the "My Announcements" section of the online booking system.

December 16, 2009

The FACScan and FACSCalibur will be taken out of service permanently in ~ 6 months.

The FACScan in the facility, (Room 2-504) will be taken out of service soon because BD Biosciences has discontinued producing parts for this instrument. The FACSCalibur will be taken out of service in six months. We strongly encourage users who use the FACScan and the FACSCalibur regularly to get trained on the LSRII as soon as possible. We will be opening up more training spots to accommodate the anticipated increase in demand. Please send an email to Sherry () to book your LSRII training appointments.

December 9, 2009

Attn all FCF Users: New Biosafety Policies Effective Immediately!

In conjunction with our current policy regarding sorting of human samples only on sorters in biosafety cabinets (which came into effect November 16, 2009) we are implementing additional biosafety policies. Effectively immediately these policies will apply to all users of the FCF refer Biosafety Requirements table.

Users who will now need to alter currently used protocols in order to comply with these policies will be given a "grace period" until January 31, 2010 in which to do so. We understand that this deadline is fast approaching, but most applications will be minimally affected by paraformaldehyde fixation.

Please contact Dr. Sherry Zhao or Julie Yuan if you would like protocols and expertise to help you adapt your application to accommodate fixation. We are confident that most users should be able to validate the use of fixation for their application by the January 31, 2010 deadline. Should you encounter difficulties meeting this deadline, please contact Dr. Sherry Zhao.

November 10, 2009

The AutoMACS Pro has been relocated to room 14-403. For after hours access please contact the Facility Manager ().

October 30, 2009

Important! New Biosafety Policies and Procedures

The location of sorters and operators to different schedules in the online booking system has been changed to reflect the pending additions of biosafety cabinets and changes to biosafety procedures. Please keep this in mind when making future sort bookings. (i.e. all human cells to be sorted on instruments in biosafety cabinets.)

October 21, 2009

Important! New Biosafety Policies and Procedures

• Starting November 16, 2009, sorting of all human and other biohazardous samples will only be done on sorters in biosafety cabinets (AriaII-SC, AriaII-CFI, MofloXDP & Influx)
• We will be notifying all users by email and we will be posting our new Biosafety Policies and Procedures on the website shortly. The Biosafety Cell Sorting Protocol form will also be made available for downloading from the site at that time. Please stay tuned!

Important! Service Interruptions starting October 30, 2009 and expected until November 14, 2009

• In conjunction with our new Biosafety Policies and Procedures, two walk-in biosafety cabinets will be installed in Room 2-203 starting October 30, 2009. Installation is expected to be complete by November 14, 2009
• During this period we will continue to sort on the Aria-GC, AriaII-SC and AriaII CFI in an adjacent room, Room 2-205
• The AriaI-RITT and the FC500 will be out of service from November 2nd to 6th.
• Although we will continue to sort as much as possible during this time please anticipate that there will be some delays as instruments are moved. Please check the "My Announcements" section of the online booking system for updates on instrument status.

Website construction

• Please bear with us as we are in the process of updating our website to better serve you!
• Updates include a new "Getting Started" page for new users and training info, a new "Home and News" page, updated Biosafety Policies and Procedures, an updated instrumentation section and more…

September 1, 2009

High Throughput Sampler (HTS) unit now available on the LSRII-SC

• Please e-mail Julie () for additional information and training details.