This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. The infectious disease aerobiology core has become a productive scientific core within the TNPRC. The core has expanded its technical capabilities required for bioaerosol characterization and aerosol challenge of diverse infectious agents by the addition of an automated version of the bioaerosol exposure system (in 2010) and the addition of the aerobiology suite within the BSL-3 envelope in the new regional biosafety laboratory on the campus of the TNRPC. The core has also expanded its functional capability to deliver dry powder pharmaceutical grade therapeutics in conjunction with drug evaluation studies that are ongoing as part of the core. The exposure facility operated under the aerobiology core is now located in two locations at the TNPRC within CDC-approved select agent registered biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) areas. In addition to nonhuman primate aerosol exposure capability, the core also performs aerosol exposures on smaller animals. Establishment of this core provides a unique resource that enables investigators to perform key experiments to further understand the biological basis of airborne-transmitted infectious diseases. In addition to the core director Dr. Chad J. Roy, the core is staffed by Dr. Satheesh Sivasubrahamni who serves as a fulltime research scientist and Ms. Rachel Redmann who serves as the core aerosol engineering technician. In the past year, the core has been consistently engaged in collaborative research studies with both intramural and NIH-funded extramural investigators;the number of extramural users of the core now exceeds twelve collaborating laboratories. In 2010, the core performed 93 individual nonhuman primate exposures using the following pathogens: staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), ricin toxin, Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus, Burkholderia pseudomallei, Rickettsia prowazekii, monkeypox virus, influenza virus, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The core also performed 276 individual rabbit exposures (96 individual infections and 180 therapeutic aerosol treatments), and 168 rodent exposures (128 infections and 40 treatments). In addition to the animal exposures and treatments, the core performed 48 microbial characterization assessments with a variety of pathogenic organisms and toxins as well as therapeutic biologics and pharmaceuticals. Attested by the numbers shown for this past year, the majority of core collaborative research involves experimental aerosol infection as an essential component of studies broader research goals such as disease model development or vaccine efficacy. In addition to experimental infection, the core is instrumental in providing aerosol characterization for novel pathogenic agents (e.g., RSV) and aerosol viability assessment for viral-vectored vaccine products. Requests for microbial efficiency studies using novel microbial agents (e.g., naked DNA, Burkholderia sp.) have also continued to increase as collaborative laboratories learn of the capabilities made available through this core.
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