Lab Training Information

The following instructions contain details not included in the Yale Animal Research Training Requirements page. Complete details on Animal Research Training can be found on the Yale website. 

Our Lab Training Instructions document outlines the steps to be added to our Lab Animal Protocol.

Online Forms and Training:

Go to the Yale Training and Certification website:

After logging in, click on Browse Courses & Forms in the Left Hand navigation bar.

Select “Animal Care and Use.” Click the “Courses” box, under “ All Animal Handlers: Mandatory Training.”

The first form, “IACUC Personnel Qualifications”, will be submitted by the Khokha lab. Please email Maura with your Net ID for the form (maura.lane@yale.edu).

Important: Make a note on the form: “Clearance requested to work with Aquatic Species only”.

Email this form to Employee Health

If you have not received any notification from Employee Health that your form has been accepted after a week, email or call them to check the status.

Complete the following courses:

Regulatory Training for Animal Care & Use

YARC Facility Training Part I.

Please let Maura know after you have completed these courses and received notification that your Medical Surveillance has been cleared. I will submit your application to be added to our Animal Protocol at this time.

Please also complete the following courses, required by Environmental Health and Safety. They are all found under the EH+S category on the Training Website.

DOT Regulated Biomedical Waste Training

EHS > Waste Management

Biosafety Part 1 web-based

EHS > Biological Safety

Biosafety Part 2 web-based

EHS > Biological Safety

Laboratory Chemical Safety Web Based

EHS > Chemical Safety

Bloodborne Pathogen for Laboratory Personnel-Web Based

EHS > Biological Safety 

    Note: You may not be working with human pathogens, but human blood is processed in the lab, so you need to be familiar with safety issues around human blood.

Facility Tours:

If you require access to the animal housing areas (tropicalis and laevis rooms), please complete the following after you have been added to our Animal Protocol (Maura will let you know when that happens). :

Sign up for the YARC Facility Training Part II on the Yale Training website. This is a 15 - 20 minute tour of our X. laevis colony (Room SHM IG49) room offered every other Thursday.

You will need a brief tour of our X. tropicalis facility also, which can be arranged with Maura.

The Yale Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) oversees all animal related research. They have published Policies, Procedures and Guidelines which need to be followed when working with animals. Failure to comply can result in citations and even closure of the lab in extreme circumstances. 

To review the sections of these policies pertinent to our research, please visit the Yale Policies, Procedures, Guidelines and Instructions for Animal Research page.

Our Animal Use Protocol (AUP) covers all aspects of animal use in our lab, such as who is allowed to work with the animals, what experiments we can do, how many animals we can keep, husbandry policies, and a host of other things. In order to gain some familiarity with the AUP, please read over the blue highlighted sections of the 2015 protocol, located in a binder named "AUP 2012-2015", on the top shelf over Maura desk.

The following General Lab Safety and Etiquette guidelines are important to know. You will receive an in-person review of these rules, but please read them over here:

No eating or drinking in lab, no food/drink containers in lab trash

EH+S requires gloves, labcoat, close toed shoes and safety glasses when working at the bench.

More in depth information on Yale Policy on Personal Protective Equipment can be found on the Yale Environmental Health & Safety Website:

It is important to know where to dispose of certain types of waste in the lab. Biohazard bins vs sharps boxes vs trash all take different kind of waste:

Glass pipettes: in plastic sharps box, NOT trash or biohazard bin

Pipette tips: in biohazard bin or plastic sharps box, NOT trash

Serological pipettes in plastic tray on counter near sink

broken, non-hazardous glass in "Broken Glass" box by 425 lab door

Chemical storage/safety

Volatile or hazardous chemicals in lab are generally separated into secondary containers by type (acids, bases etc.). Hazardous chemicals are kept in storage cabinets and should be used in the fume hood with gloves, lab coat and safety goggles. You will receive further training on this topic when you complete the online Chemical Safety course (link given next section), but be aware it is important to work with these chemicals according to guidelines. Don't hesitate to ask if you are unsure about use of any chemical.

Label all chemical bottles with contents, date made and initials. Please make a note on whiteboard near door of room 425 when running low on something.

Lab Housing rules for the species

General health, use and care

Care logs

Other procedures relevant to your project