Policies
The BPC does not share data or project information without the consent of the Principle Investigator (PI) involved in the project. Data generated by the BPC are stored in a secure electronic notebook for which only the collaborative investigator(s) and key BPC personnel have access.
For users within the IU system, confidentiality is regulated by existing University polices in this regard (e.g. https://compliance.iu.edu/compliance-areas/index.html and http://researchcompliance.iu.edu/index.html). The University Policies on intellectual Property and on Research Misconduct establish that research and research data at IU is to be protected from intentional and unintentional disclosure. Thus, all samples, products derived from samples, data obtained from the analysis of samples, and data or analyses obtained from a Core user shall be treated as confidential.
The BPC Director is responsible for resolving any issues or concerns regarding service or data generated by the BPC and will be the first point of contact.
Potential conflict resolution issues include the following:
- Differences in opinion regarding protocols used
- Rapid resolution of technical and scheduling difficulties
- Interpretation of data
- Billing related issues
- BPC authorship on work generated
If conflict resolution cannot be achieved between the PI(s) and the BPC Director, the BPC Advisory Board will be consulted. The current members of the IU School of Medicine BPC Board include:
Name | Title | Department / Center |
Kathryn Fischer (Director) | Assistant Research Professor | Pharmacology & Toxicology / SNRI |
Adrian Oblak (Chair) | Assistant Professor | Radiology & Imaging Sciences / SNRI |
James Jackson | SNRI Facilities Director | Stark Neurosciences Research Institute |
Jill Fehrenbacher | Associate Professor | Pharmacology & Toxicology / Cancer Center |
Melissa Kacena |
Professor |
Ortho Surgery / Musculoskeletal Center |
Jeff Elmendorf |
Associate Professor |
Anatomy, Cell Biology, Physiology / Diabetes Center |
Nick Grahame |
Associate Professor |
Psychology / Purdue School of Science |
All attempts will be made to schedule studies in accord with the investigator’s request. When scheduling prioritizations must be made because of capacity issues, work will be prioritized under a first-come, first-served basis with exceptions noted involving special timing of data (e.g. mice needing testing at a specific age, needed preliminary data for a grant submission, etc.).
Investigators are requested to acknowledge the BPC in any publications or grants that utilized our facilities for data generation. Any work resulting in publications that involved BPC resources should acknowledge the BPC by adding the following statement: “This work was supported by the Behavioral Phenotyping Core (BPC) at the Indiana University School of Medicine.” The BPC Director requests to be notified of any publication/patent resulting in the work performed in or by the BPC. It is strongly encouraged that the BPC Director be informed of the status of grants whereby use of the BPC is proposed. BPC authorship is not required for standard work requests, but if substantial intellectual contributions are required in assay development and validation, manuscript writing, or data interpretation, co-authorship should be considered for involved BPC personnel.
The BPC is not an open access lab. We will be in charge of running the assays outlined by the PI(s) and the BPC Director. In the event that the BPC Director approves usage of the BPC equipment by the investigator’s lab, training on the equipment and methodology is required and will be conducted by the BPC staff.
All investigators that use the BPC are expected to pay for the services provided by the BPC. Following a consultation, the BPC will provide the PI a formal quote that details the charges involved in the project. An IU account number or a purchase order number must be provided during the initial consultation with the BPC Director. When data are obtained and delivered to the PI, full payment is expected, regardless of whether or not it represents the result expected by the investigator(s). If BPC resources are utilized, but the designated work cannot be completed because of issues under control of the PI (e.g. genetic lines do not become available, testing compound produces side-effects, etc.), then the PI is responsible for payment of work conducted. If the issues are related to the BPC (e.g. failure of a positive control to work in the assay, equipment malfunction, etc.), then the PI will not be responsible for such costs. Billing will typically be performed following completion of the study and delivery of data to the PI. In cases of longer-term studies (e.g. longitudinal experiments), billing milestones will be discussed. Both internal and external (non-IUSM) investigators should contact the BPC Director to discuss billing questions.