Guidelines for Use of Shared School of Nursing Research Space and Laboratories

The School of Nursing has a variety of core biobehavioral laboratories and clinical research space that operate on a shared use basis. This means they are not assigned to individual investigators, but are assigned by function. In many cases, investigators share space, technical staff and basic supplies. Coordination, scheduling and guidance in allocation of costs to specific studies are provided through the lab manager and the Office for Nursing Research. These guidelines are provided to clarify the processes for negotiating research space and resource use.

Biobehavioral Laboratories (Biochemical, Immune, Molecular, Sleep) are used for a variety of biological assays and development of biological markers. Overall coordination of space and resource use in the laboratories is delegated to the Lab Manager, by the co-directors (Margaret Heitkemper, Center for Women’s Health & Gender Research and Pamela Mitchell, Associate Dean for Research). The lab manager works with the lead technicians for the laboratory components in helping researchers work out scheduling and financing of the services provided. Requests to use biobehavioral laboratory spaces and services are made via the lab application form with review by the Lab Research Advisory committee (LRAC).

Clinical lab space consist of the ANS-Exercise lab and interview/examination rooms. Applications to use the biobehavioral or clinical labs for short or long term projects are made to the manager in the Office for Nursing Research. The Lab Research advisory Committee (LRAC) reviews and approves the applications. Specific room allocations are made by the Office for Nursing Research.

Research staff office space is initially negotiated in the home department of the Principal Investigator. The PI works with the Department Administrator/Chair for these allocations. Research office space not involving the laboratories is negotiated with the Executive Associate Dean for the School of Nursing.

Guidelines for Planning and Obtaining Shared Research Space-Services in the SoN Labs.

Biobehavioral Laboratories - Begin planning with the Laboratory Manager for use of biobehavioral laboratories. Each laboratory requires personnel, supplies and equipment plus assays and specimen preparation and storage. Therefore, these costs must be built into proposal budgets. Once the study is funded, the workflow of subject monitoring, assay preparation, storage and the like has to be integrated into the overall workflow of the labs. The lab manager can assist you with estimating these costs related to the study questions.

Clinical Studies rooms - Consult with the Associate Dean for Research or manager in the Office for Nursing Research to determine if the clinical rooms (CSU) would be appropriate for your study’s interview, examination or exercise needs and what budgetary implications that might have. Since the clinical rooms provide only space, not personnel or supplies, student and unfunded studies can apply to use the clinical rooms, on a space available basis.

All proposals intending to use SoN labs must include a percent effort of the SoN lab manager in their budgets for supervision of lab work. The percent time is negotiated with the lab manager.

All proposals intending to use a SoN lab must submit a lab application form to the Office for Nursing Research for review-approval by the Lab Research Advisory Committee (LRAC). This application form does not need to be submitted prior to a GC-1, but must be submitted and approved before any research can begins in a SoN research lab. It is recommended a lab application form be submitted to the Office for Nursing Research no less than one month prior to the anticipated research project start date. Also, no research can begin in a SoN lab until all required Human Subject and Biohazard applications are approved and the Office for Nursing Research has received a copy of the approvals.