The main goal of the Animal Model/Pathology (AMP) Core is to provide expert support for animal research within the Center on Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (EZID), including the selection of appropriate models, biosafety and IACUC compliance submissions, and advanced, personalized pathology services for a variety of species. The AMP Core will oversee and support all animal experimentation and post experimental pathology evaluations performed by EZID project leaders (PLs). Animal experiments will be conducted in Kansas State University (KSU) animal facilities located in Coles Hall in the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) and at the Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI). Vivarium rooms at Coles Hall provide the capability to conduct research with rodents and other small vertebrates in BSL-2 containment. Animal research space at the BRI includes BSL-3Ag animal rooms and an ABSL-3 vivarium. BRI facilities allow work with select agents, including zoonotic pathogens for animal experiments at BSL-3 level of containment. The main focus of the AMP Core will be supporting on-going primary and pilot/seed projects of the EZID COBRE Center involving animal studies and pathology analysis. All support will be personalized and project-specific with the focus to satisfy specific animal research needs of the individual EZID PLs. The AMP Core will provide assistance and expertise in appropriate study designs and in preparing and obtaining IACUC approval. The Core will also coordinate with the Comparative Medicine Group (CMG; responsible for animal and veterinary care) and BRI timelines and space allocation. The AMP Core will oversee and support the execution of animal studies conducted by the Center's primary and pilot/seed PLs and their teams. The Core will also develop and conduct pilot studies on development of challenge models in rodents and other small animals essential for EZID Center projects. For pathological evaluations, the AMP Core will utilize expertise and equipment available in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology. All pathologic evaluations, tissue collections, and testing will be done under the oversight of the AMP Core Associate Director, a board-certified pathologist. Existing infrastructure will be enhanced by adding new equipment and services to expand capabilities of the Core and ensure its sustainability. This includes the acquisition of a laser capture microdissection instrument which will allow significant synergy between the two COBRE cores and for the first time at KSU the performance of single-cell RNA-Seq experiments. The AMP Core will also produce hybridomas and hyper-immune sera for the development of diagnostic tests essential to COBRE research projects. This work will be done in coordination with the Molecular and Cellular Biology Core to ensure that appropriate sample testing methodology is developed and available for testing of the generated antibodies. Successful implementation of the AMP Core will improve the biomedical research infrastructure within EZID and at KSU and significantly contribute to the overall COBRE objectives.
