Research Flow Cytometry Facility
Training and Consultation

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Learn About the Training Required to Use Our Equipment

To be trained and use any of our instruments, you MUST have access to Stratocore. To create a Stratocore account, please go to this link. To add a budget number, request it under your "Profile" tab in Stratocore. You will need this account and the budget number to access the training form available under the “Request” tab in Stratocore. You will need to submit a form for each instrument you want to be trained (conventional, spectral, ImageStream, or sorting training / consultation).

When filling out that form, you will need to provide your IBC protocol number and date of expiration. You MUST have “Research Flow Cytometry Facility” selected as a core facility to be used on your IBC. If you need to sort with us, you will also need to have “Flow Cytometry Sorting of Unfixed Samples” selected under “Types of Manipulation / Experiments Planned” and provide an explanation of sorting needs.

Prior to using our cell sorting services, new users (including those isolating and/or staining the cells) need to, in this order:

1. Take three online classes: 

  • Laser Safety – Research Flow Cytometry Facility is a 10-minute class on safety procedures for working with lasers.
  • RFCC Course 1 – Introduction is a 2-hour class covering instrument components, analysis, compensation and experimental basics
  • RFCC Course 10 – Introduction to Cell Sorting is a 40-Minute class covering fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) 

If you have already been trained on one of our other instruments, you don’t need to retake the Laser Safety– Research Flow Cytometry Facility or the Course 1 - Introduction to Flow Cytometry.

For Cincinnati Children's users, take the Three courses on Workday

  • Register for Laser Safety – Research Flow Cytometry Facility, on Workday by going to CenterLink>Workday>Type “Laser Safety-Research Flow Cytometry Facility ”
  • Register for RFCC Course 1 and 10 on Workday by going to CenterLink>Workday>Type “RFCF".

For external users, take the Three courses by watching the videos and take the quiz associated:

2. Read the Cell Sorting Guidelines, our policies and how to estimate the needed time for a staff-operated sort.

3. Schedule a consultation by filling out a “Cell Sorter Training/Consultation Form” under the “Request” tab in Stratocore. You will need to submit the confirmation emails if requested. During the consultation, we will determine if you need staff-operated sorts or can be trained to use the sorters.

  • For those who would like to sort independently, experienced users can be trained on the SH800, MA900, Bigfoot (24/7 access), or on the BD sorters for regular and after-hours access. Potential trainees must be permanent employees, have good knowledge of flow cytometry, and be a regular cell sorting client.

 New users need to complete seven classes prior to the hands-on training on our BD Fortessa / A5 SE instruments

  1. Laser Safety – Research Flow Cytometry Facility is a 10-minute class on safety procedures for working with lasers.
  2. RFCC Course 1 – Introduction is a 2-hour class covering instrument components, analysis, compensation and experimental basics.
  3. RFCC Course 2 – Policies and Procedures is a 30-minute class on Policies of the RFCF.
  4. RFCC Course 3 – Software Overview is a 20-minute class on the BD FACSDiva Software.
  5. RFCC Course 4 – Running Experiment is a 40-minute class on running an experiment in BD FACSDiva Software.
  6. RFCF Course 5 – Data Management is a 15-minute course that covers importing and exporting experiments, FCS files and templates in FACSDiva.
  7. RFCF Course 6 – Analysis in FACSDiva is a 10-minute course that covers analysis tools in FACSDiva

If you have already been trained on one of our other instruments, you don’t need to retake the Laser Safety– Research Flow Cytometry Facility or the Course 1 - Introduction to Flow Cytometry.

For Cincinnati Children's users, take the seven courses on Workday.

  • Register for Laser Safety – Research Flow Cytometry Facility, on Workday by going to CenterLink>Workday>Type “Laser Safety-Research Flow Cytometry Facility ”
  • Register for RFCC Course 1 to 6 on Workday by going to CenterLink>Workday>Type “RFCF".

For external users, take the seven courses by watching the videos below and take the quiz associated:

Hands-On Training

After completing the classes, users must submit an “Analyzer Training Form” under the “Request” tab in Stratocore to schedule a hands-on training. When filling out the form, you will need to submit the appropriate email confirming passing the courses if requested.

The hands-on training is two hours and 30 minutes.

New users need to complete two classes prior to the hands-on training on our Spectral Analyzer

  1. Laser Safety – Research Flow Cytometry Facility is a 10-minute class on safety procedures for working with lasers.
  2. Course 1 (Introduction to Flow Cytometry) is a 2-hour class covering instrument components, analysis, compensation and experimental basics.

If you have already been trained on one of our other instruments, you don’t need to retake the Laser Safety– Research Flow Cytometry Facility or the Course 1 - Introduction to Flow Cytometry.

For Cincinnati Children's users, take the Two courses on Workday

  • Register for Laser Safety – Research Flow Cytometry Facility, 6 on Workday by going to CenterLink>Workday>Type “Laser Safety-Research Flow Cytometry Facility ”
  • Register for RFCC Course 1 on Workday by going to CenterLink>Workday>Type “RFCF".

For external users, take the two courses by watching the videos below and take the quiz associated:

Hands-On Training

After completing the class, users must submit an “Analyzer Training Form” under the “Request” tab in Stratocore to schedule a 2-hour hands-on training session. When filling out the form, you will need to submit emails confirming passing the courses when requested. We will send you a link for a video. Please watch it and contact Celine Silva Lages to schedule a 30-minute meeting to review any questions. After that meeting, we will schedule a time for your hands-on training on the instrument.

FlowJo is a software used for the analysis of flow cytometry data. Training on the software by our RFCF staff is offered at three separate levels depending on the needs of the user.

  • Basic conventional training includes an overview of the software, importing files, compensation, gating, using the experiment lay out and exporting statistics.
  • Basic spectral training includes the same type of information provided during the basic conventional training but will be more specific for data coming from a spectral analyzer and will also include unmixing.
  • High-parameter training includes how to configure R to use FlowJo plugins, data cleanup steps and pre-processing, creating a tSNE and using plugins such as UMAP and FlowSOM.

New users need to complete two classes prior to the hands-on training on our Imagestream

  1. Laser Safety- Research Flow Cytometry Facility
  2. Course 1 (Introduction to Flow Cytometry) is a 2-hour class covering instrument components, analysis, compensation and experimental basics.

If you have already been trained on one of our other instruments, you don’t need to retake the Laser Safety – Research Flow Cytometry Facility or the Course 1 - Introduction to Flow Cytometry

For Cincinnati Children's users, take the Two courses on Workday

  • Register for Laser Safety – Research Flow Cytometry Facility, 6 on Workday by going to CenterLink>Workday>Type “Laser Safety-Research Flow Cytometry Facility ”
  • Register for RFCC Course 1 on Workday by going to CenterLink>Workday>Type “RFCF".

For external users, take the two courses by watching the videos below and take the quiz associated:

Hands-On Training

After completing the two courses, users must submit an “Analyzer Training Form” under the “Request” tab in Stratocore to schedule a 2-hour hands-on training session. When filling out the form, you will need to submit the email confirming passing the courses when requested.

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