What are your hours of operation and where are you located?
Our hours of operation are Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm. The UCHCL is located in Medical Sciences Building, Room 1001.
How do I request services?
Please complete the Service Request Form.
The completed form must be provided at the time of sample submission. Samples should be submitted in leak proof containers. You can provide your own slide boxes or purchase them from the UCHCL.
What type of tissue can be submitted for processing, sectioning, and staining?
We accept a large variety of human and animal tissue types including soft tissues and bone.
How do I fix my tissue samples?
Tissues should be fixed prior to submission to the UCHCL.
Common fixatives include 10% NBF (neutral buffered formalin) and 4% PFA (paraformaldehyde). Note: PFA is unstable and should be prepared fresh daily for optimal results.
Harvested tissues should be trimmed to size and placed in labeled tissue cassettes. Cassettes must be labeled with pencil. For optimal fixation, tissues should be approximately 2 x 2 x 0.5cm in size (e.g., the size of a postage stamp and thickness of a nickel). Submerge the tissue in fixative (10% NBF preferred) at room temperature for a minimum of 24 hours. The ratio of fixative to tissue should be 20:1. Following fixation, tissue should be transferred to 70% ethanol.
Please contact the UCHCL if you have project specific questions regarding fixation.
What are your target turnaround times?
Targeted turnaround times:
- Processing and embedding: 1-3 days.
- Unstained slides: ≥ 1 day depending on the total number of
blocks, number of slides/block, and special sectioning requests.
- H&E staining: 1-3 days.
- Special staining, IHC, IF, and ISH: variable depending on the
complexity of the project and current workload.
- Digital slide scanning: ≥1 day depending on the total number of
slides.
- Tissue microarray construction: variable depending on the
complexity of the project and current workload.
How do I know when my samples are ready?
You will be notified by email or phone when your samples are available. Invoices will be prepared and sent to the requestor for payment.
How do I access archived diagnostic tissues for research purposes?
The UCHCL serves as the custodian of archived diagnostic tissue for the Department of Pathology.
Requests for access to diagnostic tissue blocks for research and clinical trials should be made through the UCHCL.
Diagnostic slides are not released for research purposes. Diagnostic tissue blocks may be released to clinical trials for the purposes of treatment, diagnosis, prognosis, etc. with documentation of IRB approval and informed consent.
The UCHCL can serve as an honest broker and provide de-identified tissue for research purposes. Often, use of de-identified human tissue specimens and data does not meet the federal determination of human subject research. However, we request all investigators submit and provide documentation of Not Human Subjects Determination. Instructions can be found here: http://researchcompliance.uc.edu/hrpp/irb/NotHumanSubjects.aspx
Documentation of IRB approval must be provided for requests for individually identifiable tissue.