As we begin the Memorial Day holiday weekend, we have made good progress towards research reconstitution with the active engagement and support of the research community. We will continue to assess our progress and efforts to increase research activity while maximizing safety. As we continue to add additional researchers to campus, please be reminded: Do not return to campus until specifically invited and approved by central research administration.
 
All faculty and staff who are invited to return to work must take the SkillSoft “CU: COVID-19 Return to Campus - CU Denver | Anschutz” training, available through the My.CU portal prior to entry to any CU Anschutz facilities. 

We will be in phase 2 of the Campus COVID-19 Research Reconstitution plan and continue to accomplish those objectives the week of May 25.
 
Building Entry: Those invited and approved to return to campus can check in at any of the building entry locations for screening. The most convenient location for access to the research towers is the west side of Hensel Phelps. A wristband will be given to wear for the day after completing the entry point. 

An on-line health questionnaire must be completed whenever you are on campus and in a CU Anschutz facility. An updated version of the daily wellness questionnaire is in development and will be launched soon. This new version will employ single sign-on (SSO) security and have auto-fill capability that pre-fills personal information.

Community-based research: Specific guidance for community-based research is being developed. A working group on this topic met this week and has been charged with developing community-based research guidance. More information will be provided next week.  

COVID Officials/COVID Plans: For research occurring in the research towers, Barbara Davis Center, and School of Pharmacy, a total of 32 COVID plans for the first phase were submitted. Effective today, May 22 all submittals have been reviewed and approved. We are looking forward to the gradual return of our invited researchers back to campus and appreciate the careful planning and considerations that the COVID officials and researchers put into their COVID plans. Please be mindful of new traffic patterns and break room/kitchen rules in your work areas. We will continue to review new plans that come in from other laboratory research locations, including the Bioscience buildings. If you have questions, please reach out to your COVID official 

Clinical Research Committee: 

CU Anschutz clinical research space: Plans for activation are currently in development in accordance with the clinical research reconstitution plan. If you manage CU Anschutz owned or managed space which will conduct any clinical research activity contact Alison.Lakin@cuanschutz.edu to identify a COVID official.  

Approval to open CU Anschutz space has to be in place before any applications for expansion of clinical research in that space can begin. As facilities on campus are approved to ramp up there will be additional announcements for the researchers to begin to submit their research protocols for re-activation. Currently, no new protocol can begin involving CU Anschutz space except for access to clinical sample management in RC1 or RC2.

Step by step directions for the CU Anschutz ramp up of clinical research can be found here.

UCHealth only (no use or access needed to any CU Anschutz facilities), follow:
UCHealth Guidelines for Research Involving Human Subjects During COVID-19 Outbreak, Update: May 21, 2020. If you have any questions, please contact UCH-ResearchAdmin@uchealth.org or Laurie Blumberg Romero.

For CHCO only (no use or access needed to any CU Anschutz facilities): Requests can be submitted via: AMC Research Reactivation Survey. A webpage has been created so study teams can find guidance for prioritization, safety considerations, instructions for submission, top things to consider before returning to the hospital, etc. 

OLAR: All researchers are reminded that they must complete the OLAR Research Restart Form to begin new experiments in the vivarium. Please remember that all individuals that will be entering the vivarium must be listed on this form, as well as in your individual lab and COVID Floor Plan. More detail can be found in the OLAR specific communication.