? This proposal is a supplemental request for a GCRC Human Immunology Core Laboratory for the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance. The goal of the proposal is to foster detailed studies of the human immune response in the context of clinical investigation in a diverse array of fields, including immunology, rheumatology, infectious diseases, vaccinology, pulmonary medicine and cancer therapy. The laboratory services proposed will allow NIH-funded clinical investigators to extend current protocols of clinical investigation into mechanistic studies of the role of the immune system in the disease or therapeutic approaches under study. The immediate purpose of the proposal is to support a stable, flexible, centralized infrastructure for sophisticated immunology assays that will enable research needed to promote and coordinate multidisciplinary basic and clinical research in human immunology. A long-term goal of this program is to promote the translation of research using animal models from previous studies of inflammation or immunity to infection into clinical applications in humans. To date, translation of these concepts has been hindered by the complexity of the assays needed, the cost of equipment and reagents, and the high level of specialized training required to run the assays. Such factors have barred many talented clinical investigators from investigating the role of human immune elements in their studies. The proposed Core will facilitate the availability of reproducible assays to clinical researchers, and will provide for scientific consultation to the clinical research teams for the selection of appropriate tests and interpretation of data. Priority access to the Core services for new and young investigators will encourage these investigators to incorporate immunologic studies into new and original clinical studies. ? ?
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