Policies

Please note that both core-assisted and self-directed studies at the CVRC are contingent upon prior approval of a PI’s Animal Use Protocol by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). All the services related to preclinical models/preclinical imaging are listed below. The CVRC is willing to develop models/procedures upon clients’ request that are not listed on our core website.

The Cardiovascular Research Core (CVRC) is a pay per use service that provides access to state-of-the-art instrumentation. Users must have a valid RRC iLab Account before any work can be carried out. Some CVRC instruments are available for self-use. For any self-use service, the researcher must first take the training course, provided by CVRC, associated with the service requested to use the instruments. Assistance is always available for any self-use service. All projects are verified prior to training and any new projects that arise after training and access has been granted by the CVRC. Failure to notify the CVRC of any new projects after granting access can be grounds to terminate access to the instrument for the researcher. CVRC reserves the right to refuse to take on work that we believe to be time-consuming and will have a negative impact on other users from accessing the instrument during regular work hours (Monday-Friday from 9a-5p).

A researcher must contact the CVRC staff first via email or phone to use any of the CVRC instruments.  After discussing the researcher’s objectives and use of the instrument, their protocol will be verified by OACIB. Training in using the instrument will be scheduled by the CVRC staff with the researchers. Training is only offered by appointment. Once you are trained, you will need to create an iLab account on the CVRC website if you don’t have one already to reserve time on the instrument for self-use. You must have a reservation scheduled on iLAB to use the instrument.  Time on the instrument must be documented accurately.  A sign-up sheet is placed by the instrument to document extra time used.  You can also send an email to the CVRC staff to notify them of any additional time used on the instrument.

The CVRC requests that users have an experimental plan in place before using the instruments to avoid over-booking and allow access to other users for that instrument. We encourage users to reserve the instrument one week prior to your usage.  For studies that require scanning at multiple time points over a period, the CVRC requires researchers to meet and receive approval from the core for any reservations that will require scheduling the instrument for several weeks at a time. The CVRC allows users to cancel reservations with 24-hour notice. You must cancel your reservation at least 24 hours in advance to allow other users to reserve the time to avoid any penalties. If you need to cancel your reservation on the day of your experiment, you must contact the CVRC Staff to cancel your reservation and provide an explanation for same-day cancellation. Please e-mail the CVRC staff as soon as you know that you will not be able to use your instrument time. Cancellation requests that occur after your scheduled time will not be granted and you will be charged the reserved time.  Researchers are billed for instrument usage based on the timed reservation on iLAB. Please email the CVRC staff if there are any discrepancies in the billed charges from the actual time that was used for the instrument.

You must immediately contact the CVRC staff by phone (5-2918, 6-7878 or 5-2938), if you encounter any issues with the instrument.  You may also reach out to us directly at the CVRC office, NMR Labs Room B12. If we cannot be reached or during off-hours (before/after Monday-Friday from 9a-5p, on weekends), send us an email to the CVRC with a description of the problem and a screenshot [ctrl + print screen]. The CVRC will work immediately to resolve the issue.  After troubleshooting the issue, the CVRC staff will solve the issue and or further investigate the malfunction.  We will also determine whether the instrument’s malfunction was beyond your control or caused by the user.  If the issue was out of your control, you will not be charged for the instrument time.  If the issue was an error on the part of the user, the user will be charged the repair costs of the instrument as well as undergo a probation period for use of the instrument.  The researcher will need to be re-trained at full cost and will be monitored for 3 months to ensure the proper use of the instrument.  All users are responsible for any physical damage to the instrument due to user’s non-standard operation.

Core instrument computers or laptops are essential work devices that should only be used for work related activity and not be used for personal activities such as chat or non-related work web-browsing.  Internet access is available on some instruments to facilitate data transfer and online searches for research related work. The CVRC asks users to use discretion when accessing the internet. The core computers have been configured to properly operate the instruments. To protect system integrity, do not install unauthorized software or make changes to the operating systems of the instrument computers without permission. Any software or hardware upgrades will be performed by the CVRC staff only. The user must notify and have approval from the CVRC to add any specialized application from the vendor for their studies.

The CVRC is not responsible for backing up your data. You should always back up your data on a regular basis. ECHO files over 6 months will be deleted.  LagoX files will be deleted after 1 year.