Social Distancing Guidelines

THE FOLLOWING MODIFICATIONS TO OPERATIONAL STATUS ARE EFFECTIVE JUNE 11, 2020:

All MSU Flow Cytometry Core Users are required to adhere to the following social distancing guidelines, including remaining greater than 6 feet apart at all times in building common areas.

• Only one person will be allowed in the MSU Flow Cytometry Core Facility rooms at a time.
• You MUST use the iLab Solutions platform to schedule time on instrumentation. Please make sure the time for which you plan on using the instrument is accurate.
• A minimum of 30 minutes will be required between instrument bookings/use and only one instrument may be booked at a time in each room. Core staff will block off times for instrument use when we will be present in rooms performing cell sorting, instrument maintenance, or setting up remote training/assistance devices.
• Sample drop-off just outside of Core Facility rooms will be required for users that are sorting, using the Luminex, or requesting Core Staff perform samples acquisition, in order to maintain social distancing.
• Currently we are not training new users in person.
  • Zoom or other software will be available on all appropriate instrument computers for remote training or for users requiring remote assistance.
  • Microphones, speakers, and webcams will be setup upon re-opening to establish remote training and instrument assistance capabilities. We will also create training videos for each benchtop analyzer that will be made available to new and current users. Once these resources have been generated, new user training will be re-established on benchtop analyzers (LSR II [BPS], BD Accuri C6 [IQ], Cytek Aurora [IQ]). New users will be required to:
    • (1) Attend a remote ‘Principles of Flow Cytometry’ class prior to approval of instrument-specific training.
    • (2) Attend a Project Review Meeting to review experiment, to determine appropriate instrument, and review SOP for working in the facility under current policies (review remote training logistics, PPE requirements, disinfection procedures, etc.).
    • (3) Review Building re-opening plans if Core is not located in your “home” building.
    • (4) Complete the MSU Flow Cytometry Core COVID-19 SOP Form.
    • (5) Review instrument training videos (when available), prior to setting up remote instrument-specific training. Instrument-specific training will be performed with Core staff directing and monitoring the user remotely with webcam and Zoom capabilities.