The overall goal of the Laboratory Sciences Core is to provide laboratory support for HIV-1-related researchperformed by D-CFAR members at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. This research is bothpatient-oriented and laboratory-based. A crucial aspect of the work of this core is to enrich existing researchprograms by broadening and deepening the range of immunovirologic analyses used to analyze clinicalmaterial and to foster new 'translational' collaborations between bench and clinical investigators. It isanticipated that the development of the LSC will foster scientific exchange between NIH-funded HIVresearch investigators as well as of other NIH-funded researchers not currently engaged in HIV researchwith the members of the Laboratory Sciences Core and result in fruitful collaborations. The D-CFARLaboratory Sciences Core is organized under four Specific Aims : 1. To provide specialized, innovative andstandardized immunologicand virologic analyses for HIV-1 patient-oriented investigations. Immunologyservices will focus on innate and adaptive immunity for quantifying immunologic function, such as flowcytometry-based assays of natural killer and dendritic cell function, assays for evaluating antigen specificmemory and effector T cell responses, regulatory T cells, output of naive cells from the thymus, molecularassays including real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) for gene expression and virology services for viralisolation, co-receptor usage and neutralization assays. 2. To initiate the development of a 'Neuro-AIDSSupport Section' for future integration into the Laboratory Sciences Core. The Neuro-AIDS Support Sectionwould aim to facilitate collaborative, focused, novel, laboratory-based research in HIV neurovirology andneuro-immunology and 3. To facilitate collaborative projects between laboratory-based and behavioral orclinical scientists, and to provide training for new fellows or investigators undertaking D-CFAR-supportedinvestigations with a laboratory component. 4. To develop and maintain a repository for specimens frompatient cohorts provided through collaboration with the Clinical Support Core. Coordinater and provideoversight and quality assurance (QA) for collection and processing, storage, retrieval and testing of studyspecimens. The staff and investigators providing these services will overlap and it is anticipated that this willbe the key to integration of basic and clinical studies.
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