The UCSF-GIVI CFAR Immunology Core is dedicated to stimulating translational research that explores and defines the immunological abnormalities present in HIV infection and that promotes improvements in the care of HIV-infected patients at both domestic and international sites. To accomplish this goal, the Core offers a wide array of immunological services including multiparameter flow cytometric assays of immune cell phenotype and immune function (proliferation, cytotoxicity, cytokine production and cell signaling);specialized tissue processing of bone marrow, lymph node and gut associated lymphoid tissues plus isolation of specific subsets of lymphocytes by immunomagnetic bead or FACS sorting and analysis of downstream signaling pathways within these purified cell subsets. Overall, the Core provides four complementary lines of service including: 1) customized immune assays designed to meet individual investigator needs;2) access to state-of-the-art flow cytometry including infected and uninfected cell sorting and cell analysis;3) development and optimization of new immunological assays, technologies and related services and 4) training, mentoring and education of early-career investigators, senior investigators from other disciplines, and laboratory staff. The Core provides services from two different campus sites including the Core Immunology Laboratory located within the Division of Experimental Medicine at the San Francisco General Hospital and the Gladstone Flow Core located at Mission Bay. During the last funding period, the Immunology Core supported 80 different studies from 65 different investigators, introduced 28 new immune assays, developed sixty-five 6-12 color flow cytometry panels, contributed to 59 peer-reviewed publications, trained 45 young investigators and helped leverage more than 15 million dollars in new grant support. A new top priority for the Immunology Core involves enhancing immunological expertise and capacity in Tororo, Uganda and providing mentoring and training in translational immunology to investigators at this site. The core will also continue to evaluate and introduce new technologies to accelerate the research progress of CFAR investigators including the use of intracellular branched DNA technology for detection of latent HIV infection and the use of microparticles to stage cardiovascular disease during HIV infection.
The Immunology Core provides state-of-the art immunology assay service and instrumentation in support of basic, translational and multidisciplinary research projects that investigate the complex interactions between HIV, the immune response to HIV, and novel therapeutic interventions aimed at modifying the immune response or eradicating latent infection.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 1541 publications
