Institutional Core Labs

Cutting-edge technologies in biomedical research often require high-end instrumentation that is too expensive for individual investigators, as well as scientific and technical expertise that is not always readily available. The Office of the Vice President for Research supports and oversees the operations of 9 Institutional Core Laboratories (Core Labs), which provide affordable access to specialized technologies and technical expertise for our research community. The overarching goal of the Core Labs is to increase the scholarly productivity of the University’s scientists including high-quality publications, grant funding, and invention disclosures. Each Core Lab is directed by a highly qualified faculty member, assisted by expert technical staff. All the Institutional Core Labs are supported administratively by the Director of Institutional Core Laboratories, Dr. Ramiro Ramirez-Solis.

Each Core Lab has an advisory Scientific Core Committee (SCC) which is composed of faculty with a high degree of expertise on, and/or whose teams use the technology substantially. This committee provides advice on novel or obsolete technologies, as well as on scientific, operational, financial, and regulatory aspects of the lab. In addition to the SCCs, a single high-level Institutional Core Committee (ICC) composed by senior leaders from the University’s schools, main research centers, scientific base, financial, administrative and regulatory units, provides advice to the Vice President for Research to ensure the Core Labs optimize their service to the University’s scientists. The ICC meets semi-annually, and has recently approved the Institutional Core Laboratories Policy. This document will serve as the basis to define Core Lab services and provide a transparent process to apply for, or if necessary, discontinue the Institutional Core Lab status. The Policy became effective on September 1, 2018.