This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The goal of Area IV, Immunology, is to understand the cell-to-cell interactions and molecular mechanisms that control the development and function of the immune system. Within the group, a smaller subgroup is focused on the mechanisms that regulate autoimmunity, both at the developmental and regulatory levels. There are six members of Area IV, consisting of 2 research active faculty from the CUNY Medical School department of Microbiology and Immunology and 4 from the department of Biology. William Boto, Shubha Govind and Jerry Guyden were hired through the RCMI grant directly. Mark Pezzano was recruited for a faculty position in the Biology department, after serving as Deputy Director of the RCMI program and collaborating on research projects with Dr. Guyden for several years. Paul Gottlieb and Linda Spatz were hired by the CUNY Medical School and recruited to join the RCMI program because of their active research collaboration focused on autoimmunity when the immunology subgroup was initiated in our last proposal. All of these researchers currently have outside funding for their research projects and many have collaborative projects both within the group and with outside investigators. The research interests of the group are diverse, ranging from studies of innate immune system development and function in Drosophila to KSHV transmission and evolution in humans. We have several investigators who study aspects of immune cell development in both B and T cells and immune system regulation, which are focused on a key question in Immunology as to how the immune system distinguishes self from non-self. These studies are directly relevant to the development of autoimmune diseases. In this application, we are requesting funds to hire one additional immunologist to increase our critical mass in this exciting area of research. This individual will have a research focus in innate immunity in vertebrates, to best foster collaboration with the existing members of our research group and to increase the critical mass in an area that has experienced a revolution in new interest in recent years. The equipment requests for Area IV include a new fluorescence activated cell sorter, to replace the now non-functional but heavily utilized Coulter Epics Elite purchased in the initial round of RCMI funding. This equipment while indispensable to the research efforts of the Immunologists is also a very important tool for many researchers in other areas of the RCMI program. For our central facilities we are requesting funds for replacement of items purchased during the first granting period that can no longer be used nor will the vendors continue to service them. We need to replace two Cold wave chilling units, used for our central facility equipment rooms, as well as an autoclave. We need to add two 80 Revco freezers to replace old equipment and provide additional storage space for new hires. We need to replace our Spectrophotometer (purchased in 1988), a speedvac, and three RO and Milli Q systems (all purchased in 1987). We also request funds to purchase service contracts for our DNA sequencer BD LSR II FACS analyzer and the new cell sorter and confocal microscope requested in this proposal.
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