Coriell Institute is pleased to offer hands-on training opportunities for new users of cell culture and specialty review courses for more experienced researchers. All courses and workshops are custom-designed to meet the scientific needs of the participants and feature extended time “at the hood” for developing and refining aseptic technique, as well as more specialized procedures. Each trainee (or trainee pair) works one-on-one with a senior cell culture technician to maximize the learning experience.

Custom Workshops

One especially important aspect of collaborative research is the need to harmonize laboratory protocols between partner scientists. Coriell designs cell culture workshops with the specific needs of the trainee, including best practices in collecting specimens, packing and shipping specimens, processing of specimens to establish cell lines, biobank management, and distribution of cell cultures.

Formal Training in Cell Culture

Coriell offers a one-semester course to upper-level undergraduate students majoring in biology at Rowan University. This course has been taught for more than twenty years with great success for both the students and the faculty of Coriell. The course introduces advanced biology students to the history, theory, and techniques of maintaining live cells in long-term culture. The combination of lectures and lab experiences has been designed to demonstrate cell biology in both theory and practice. The course introduces the laboratory techniques that are currently being used to establish, culture, and characterize cell lines in the Coriell Cell Repositories. Students prepare fibroblast cell lines from biopsy material and process peripheral blood samples to obtain mononuclear cells used to establish lymphoblast cell lines. These cell lines are carried by the student through the Quality Control assays used at Coriell. Lecture sessions are used to supplement the laboratory experience by providing the theoretical basis for the laboratory activities and to place laboratory techniques in a broader context of cell banking activities. Major goals of this course are to develop an appreciation of cell culturing as a fundamental skill in biomedical research and to provide qualified cell culturists to the scientific community.

To participate in cell culture education at Coriell, please contact the Course Director.