The Cornell University Life Sciences Core Laboratories Center (CLC) provides an array of genomics, proteomics, imaging, IT and informatics shared research resources and services to the full University community and to investigators at other academic institutions and commercial enterprises. The Center provides a concentration of advanced life sciences instrumentation and expertise in their applications. The CLC is part of the Cornell University New Life Sciences Initiative. The Center includes fee-for-service research, technology testing and development, and educational components. The mission of the CLC is to promote research in the life sciences with advanced technologies in a shared resource environment.

The CLC is part of a Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) in Life Science Enterprise designated by the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR). In association NYSTAR, New York State companies receive a discount on CLC resources and services.

Cornell University has made a major commitment to maintaining state-of-the-art shared resources to support life sciences research through a New Life Sciences Initiative. As part of this initiative, the CLC includes all the University funded core facilities at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. University funding is used to allow core facilities to grow to a mature level of service to the research community. The Center is currently composed of 8 different facilities, with ~10,000 sq. ft. of research and administrative space. The CLC includes both newly established and pre-existing facilities, including all the cores of the former Biotechnology Resource Center (BRC). The Center has an established review policy that allows for the periodic addition of new University funded core facilities by request of Cornell faculty. Facilities are newly established or brought under the umbrella of the CLC through a memorandum of understanding that establishes operating and administrative guidelines.

The mandate of the CLC is to implement and offer shared resources that are widely used by the full University. The resources and services of all the CLC facilities are open to all investigators at Cornell University. The Center supports research at all the University campuses, including the Cornell campus in Ithaca, NY, and the Cornell medical campuses in New York City, NY, and Doha, Qatar. The CLC also provides resources and services to external academic institutions and to biotech companies.

Efforts are aimed towards full cost recovery operation of a facility within 5 years after being established, as possible for the technology platform offered. The fee policies of the CLC are governed by federal regulations and university guidelines on core facilities. Fees are calculated on a cost recovery basis, including the cost for consumables, labor, instrument service contracts, and applicable instrument depreciation.

The CLC is administered by the Cornell University Institute for Biotechnology and Life Science Technologies, under the overall supervision of Kelvin Lee, the Institute Director. Linda Carr, the Biotech Institute Executive Director, provides financial oversight. George Grills, the Director of Operations of the Core Facilities in the Life Sciences, provides operational coordination. Stephen Kresovich, Vice Provost for Life Sciences, has ultimate oversight of all university funded life sciences shared resources. Each CLC facility has a Faculty Advisor and a Faculty Advisory Board that are responsible for scientific oversight of the core facility. Each CLC facility has a Facility Director that provides daily oversight of technical operations of the facility.

A major goal of the CLC is to build on the synergistic value gained from pulling multiple core facilities into one Center, by helping to establish collaborative inter-campus and cross-institutional research programs that include the coordinated multidisciplinary involvement of multiple core facilities within the Center.

The availability of high end instruments and services in the university-wide CLC facilities help ensures open and cost effective access to crucial research resources. The shared resources of the CLC are used for research and research training, to improve access to and stimulate use of emerging technologies by researchers and students, and to facilitate the development and use of new methods, applications and technologies. The Center supports research and discovery while promoting learning. The CLC facilitates the advance of knowledge and understanding in a wide variety of life science research.