The UCSF AIDS Research Institute (UCSF-ARI) is joining with the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) to request funds for renovation of a Translational Research Laboratory at the San Francisco General Hospital Campus of UCSF. This laboratory will address problems of national significance by bridging gaps between basic science and human health with a focus on virology, immunology and molecular biology studies of HIV-1. The proposal for this space demonstrates the considerable productivity of UCSF scientists and also how the science of HIV-1 will be enhanced with the addition of a core laboratory facility. It demonstrates how our scientists have demonstrated considerable flexibility and resourcefulness, but that our current laboratory facilities are grossly inadequate, stifling scientific progress in a rapidly develop field. The UCSF-ARI has its major research foci the optimization of anti-retroviral regimens, the measurement and enhancement of immune reconstitution, and the development and evaluation of a maximally effective strategies for the primary prevention of HIV. The GCRC, with continuous funding since its founding in 1962, has a long record of excellent studies in the pathogenesis of hypertension, diabetes, other metabolic disorders, and diseases unique to the population of patients served at SFGH (including AIDS, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism, drug addiction, and tuberculosis). Collaboration between the ARI and the GCRC in thee laboratories will provide for great efficiency and optimal intellectual cross-fertilization. The combination of intellectual spirit and technical expertise that will be made possible by this Translational Laboratory will foster rigorous and insightful science that will have direct relevance to national priorities in human health.
