Deans CoREs - Freezer Farm | Icahn School of Medicine

The Freezer Farm CoRE at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai provides premier facilities designed to safeguard the research community's most valuable assets. Our secure locations meet the most stringent requirements for sample storage and maintenance, and our goal is to support the scientific community through continued state-of-the-art preservation.

The Freezer Farm is designed to alleviate the burden of limited laboratory space, offering researchers a trusted alternative for both short and long-term sample storage. With an extensive range of support systems, including emergency backup power, continuous temperature monitoring, and preventative maintenance protocols, our locations and staff ensure excellent care of scientific materials.

Investigators can take advantage of additional services such as bar-code inventory management and specimen aliquoting, all supported by our staff, who are available during weekday hours. Whether utilizing our Mount Sinai Health System locations at The Mount Sinai Hospital or Mount Sinai Morningside, or our offsite partner facility, Scisafe, in New Jersey, researchers can rest assured that their samples are secure.

Emergencies and Freezer Failure Guidelines

Every freezer unit should have a temperature-monitoring device to prevent sample loss. The Freezer Farm uses Centrak to monitor the freezers in their locations, and we also partner with Minus80 Critical Temperature Monitoring. The temperature-monitoring devices are the first line of defense to notify your team of a possible emergency or freezer failure. As a first step, it is critical to determine if the failure is due to an electrical issue with the unit or outlet, or a temperature cooling issue.

Each lab should be equipped with a backup freezer (or freezers) in case of an emergency or freezer failure. If you do not have backup freezers, please see if it is possible to utilize additional space in your current freezers by shifting items. Please also check if your neighboring team/lab/department can accommodate your needs or even loan you a backup freezer.

If you have exhausted all options above and still need emergency assistance, you may then contact us. The Cold Storage Emergency Team will assist as a last resort to freezer emergencies.

As a first step in solving the issue, please complete the Cold Storage Emergencies - On-Call Support Questionnaire. Once you've completed the online questionnaire, call the Cold Storage Emergency Team at 212-824-8659 (Ext. 58659).

The Cold Storage Emergency Team will review your online questionnaire with you and assess the emergency. Then one of the following procedures will occur:

Quick resolution: relocation of samples to the Hess Freezer Farm
Intermediate resolution: relocation of equipment to an adequate environment
Advanced resolution: either relocate failed equipment to a backup unit location or have backup equipment sent to a failed unit location

The CoRE will begin charging you after the 48-hour window. The monthly charge is $550, and a fund number is required for billing purposes. Finally, you will also need to contact a vendor (like Cryostar) to repair your freezer or immediately order a new freezer unit.