Center for Genome Innovation
As a core facility, we are aware of the challenges and stresses our research community is experiencing, in part from temporary suspension of services due to the COVID pandemic. While the University is preparing to ramp research back up, the CGI team is working on a plan that will allow us to best support our facility users while taking into consideration state/federal guidelines, the safety of our personnel and the sensitivity/viability of samples submitted for processing.
While stay at home directives are in place, staff will not be able to support new sample submissions, sample processing in the facility nor instrument/facility access. Although we are not accepting samples during this time, we are working remotely and continue to collect new project information from PIs, including sample details and other relevant information, such as deadlines for specific grant submissions. As noted in an earlier update, if you are planning a new experiment or requesting re-sequencing of samples currently in the CGI, please contact us so that we can order the necessary reagents.
During the University's Phase 2 ramp up plan, projects that were submitted prior to the ramp down and are approved as CRI (https://ovpr.uconn.edu/covid-19-guidance-for-the-uconn-research-community/critical-research-information/) will be prioritized for completion as time and staffing allows. We will contact all PI's with projects underway with updates for completion estimates as soon as we can get back into the lab.
As ramp up plans progress, we want to assure everyone that we are considering many variables including the safety of personnel, how to implement physical distancing measures and SOPs that ensure sample integrity is maintained in the event that an emergency closure be reinitiated with limited notice.
Computational Biology Core
The CBC remains active in supporting our users as we can do so at distance. We will continue to process new cluster accounts, install software, and support the bioinformatic needs of the research community. We will continue to schedule consultations and provide project support via web conferencing. We are also working on providing some virtual workshops to replace the previously announced Summer schedule. We respond to all meeting and related requests via cbcsupport@uconn.edu and also through our active Slack channel: uconn-cbc.slack.com. We ask that all users work within these systems and avoid direct e-mails to staff so that we can accommodate everyone. Please note that during this exceptionally busy time, the wait times on the server and support for software installs may be longer than normal.
For more information, contact: Jessica at jessica.williamson@uconn.edu