Confocal Microscopy at CCMI

• In order to gain access to the confocal facility and training, investigators must contact the director of the facility, Dr. Michael H. Nathanson, or Associate Director, Dr. Mateus Guerra.
• Instruments cannot be removed from the lab at any time except with staff authorization.
• Users of the facility should not store samples, solutions, or other materials within the facility unless authorized, and then only in designated areas. Any sample or solution left unlabeled will be discarded.
• Data stored in the Imaris workstations that is older than two months will be deleted without prior notice.

Instrument and specimen handling

• The staff is happy to provide users with instructions for the handling and cleaning of instruments and specimen handling in a safe manner.
• Spills need to be cleaned immediately and reported for further technical care. Individuals who do not report spills will not be able to use the facility again.
• Any slides with oil may not be used on microscopes with dry and water lenses.
• Any oil getting on a non-oil objective must be cleaned immediately with ethanol and reported to the facility manager.
• At the end of each session, users must clean the lenses used. Instructions for lens and specimen cleaning are posted near the microscopes.

Booking

• Microscope bookings are made through PPMS.
• Each lab is permitted to use each microscope a maximum of 4 hours per day and 8 hours per week during regular Monday-Friday work hours (8:00 am - 6:00 pm). There is no time limit for after-hours or weekend usage.

CCMI Core cancelation or no-show policy

• Users that reserve microscope time and do not show up will be billed for their reserved time as if it were used.
• Cancelations within 24 hours of scheduled reservation will be billed unless that time slot is subsequently booked by another user.

Training

• Training on confocal microscopes is provided free of charge to investigators with the permission of the Director. 
• Training is performed by the staff of the facility only, unless with special authorization.
• For more information on training, please contact Dr. Mateus Guerra.

Computers

• Users are not allowed to download or install software on any of the computers without asking the staff. These computers are available exclusively for imaging samples, analysis and 3-4 dimensional reconstructions of pictures.
• Users should back up their files and delete their files from hard disks. Hard disks will be cleaned up on a regular basis without advance notice.