The Scripps Preclinical NeuroAIDS Studies (SNAPS) group has organized an application for a Core support Program for Mental Health/AIDS Research (CSPAR) Center in order to foster a multi- disciplinary, synergistic approach to the mental health consequence of HIV infection. Through the combined insights of scientists performing virologic, immunologic , pathologic, neurobiologic, chemical, molecular and cellular biologic investigations we can maximize the effort and resulting progress made towards understanding, treatment, and funds for relevant studies, examine Viral Pathogenesis, the Host Response, Pathogenesis of Host Defenses, Downstream Effects on Neural Systems and Therapy, with the goal of understanding the consequences of HIV on the nervous system. This would include identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of HIV on the brain, and the potential for developing and testing potential therapeutics to prevent or treat CNS disease. To support this research, five research Cores: Behavioral Assessment Core Physiology Core, Immunological Assay Core, Functional Genomics Core, and Protein Chemistry Core have been organized. Direction and leadership will be provided y an Administrative Core. A Developmental Core will also be an integral part of the Center to help expand the neuroAIDS research effort. The strength of this Center lies in the productivity and creativity of the participating faculty and the unique collaborative environment in place at TSRI. The SNAPS will also provide a resource for neuroAIDS research, allowing the application of the preclinical work performed by SNAPS scientists to translational work in the clinic. This program was conceived as a means of fostering inter- disciplinary approaches to the study of neuroAIDS, and with recent advances in the scientific fields encompassed by these investigations, the opportunities for the fusion of research in these areas has never been more promising. The value added by the addition of Core support proposed in this application will be to extend and facilitate those existing studies, while fostering new collaboration and exploration that are not possible at the present time.
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