Policy Statement

For users of the Biophysics Resource (BR) in the Structural Biophysics Laboratory:

A. The Biophysics Resource (BR) in the Structural Biophysics Laboratory provides biophysical instrumentation and needed assistance for users from the Center for Cancer Research (CCR), NCI. The BR is an open, shared-use facility and does not provide or perform drop-off service or support. Users must learn to operate the instruments and conduct their own experiments. After paying a one-time access fee per PI group, all technologies can have unlimited use during the current fiscal period. The BR will provide the necessary consumable supplies; however, frequent users may be advised to provide certain accessories (e.g., spectroscopic cells, HPLC vials). The access mode for each instrument is determined by BR personnel.

Experimental Technology	Instrument	User Access
Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy	Aviv model 202 CD Spectrometer (Aviv Biomedical, Inc.)	Any user after instruction ("walk-up")
Steady-State Fluorescence Spectroscopy	FluoroMax-2 Fluorometer (JY HORIBA - SPEX)	Any user after instruction ("walk-up")
Isothermal Titration Calorimetry	iTC200 Isothermal Titration Calorimeter (MicroCal) VP-ITC Isothermal Titration Calorimeter (MicroCal)	BR personnel only w/ collaboration BR personnel only w/ collaboration
Differential Scanning Calorimetry	VP-DSC Differential Scanning Calorimeter (MicroCal)	BR personnel only w/ collaboration
LC-MS-MS Mass Spectrometry	Agilent 6520 Series Accurate-Mass Quadrupole Time-of-Flight LC/MS/MS System (Agilent Technologies, Inc.)	Trained users or BR personnel only
HPLC-Electrospray Mass Spectrometry	Agilent 1100 Series LC/Mass Selective Detector (Agilent Technologies, Inc.)	Trained users
Multi-Angle Light Scattering	Light Scattering Detector DAWN EOS Detector (Wyatt Technology)	BR personnel only w/ collaboration
Dynamic Light Scattering	DynaPro Titan Instrument with a Temperature-Controlled MicroSampler (Wyatt Technology)	BR personnel only w/ collaboration
Microscale Thermophoresis	Monolith NT.115 (NanoTemper Technologies GmbH)	Any user after instruction ("walk-up")

B. Upon signing up to use the BR scientific instrumentation, the user accepts the terms and conditions of this statement.

C. To sign up to use the BR instrumentation, please check the online Instrument Schedules and follow the instructions posted there. If preliminary discussion of the scientific problem or training is required, contact Dr. Sergey Tarasov by e-mail at tarasovs@mail.nih.gov or by phone/voice-mail at 301-846-1223 (Bldg. 538/172). Please, notify BR personnel if you need to cancel or postpone a previously arranged appointment. Any instrumentation session not started within 15 minutes after the scheduled start time is subject to cancellation.

D. Access to the BR facility (Bldg. 538/180 and 538/105A) is controlled via electronic, code-locked doors. Users will be issued an individual code as required, valid for the entire period of the ongoing study. The regular business hours of the Biophysics Resource are: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. For extended hours, contact Dr. Tarasov.

E. Principal Investigators or Supervisors of users must be informed of and authorize planned use of BR instrumentation. Authorization must be made by e-mail to Dr. Andrew Byrd, byrdra@mail.nih.gov. The authorization should contain a brief summary (generally no longer than 1 paragraph or 2-3 sentences) with a description of the scientific problem and goals of the current experimental study.

F. For walk-up instruments, experiments will be performed by users after the required instructions. The BR staff will provide technical assistance to the extent required. In this case, co-authorship of any resulting publication is not generally required. However, users are requested to acknowledge the BR in resulting publications and presentations and inform Dr. Sergey Tarasov about these publications/presentations.

G. Scientific assistance in experimental design, experimental work, data treatment, and interpretation of results can be provided by BR personnel on a COLLABORATIVE basis.

H. Users must follow all Frederick National Lab Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Program regulations. The experiments should be performed in strict accordance with BR instrumentation manuals and BR personnel assignments. Users cannot make any hardware or software modifications without BR personnel permission. Users are responsible for exact and on-time filing of their instrument use in corresponding BR logbooks.

The instrumentation and working areas must be kept clean.

Issued: 01/10/01
Modified: 12/9/11