Pulmonary Immunopathology (PIP) core offers expertise and technical support for investigators in the COBRE program. The goal of the proposed PIP Core is to provide animal and equipment facilities and specialized training for COBRE PJIs in pulmonary immunopathological techniques and to develop new experimental approaches that will assist Promising Junior Investigators (PJls) and other NIH-funded investigators to successfully pursue their research objectives. The establishment of this core will facilitate collaboration among investigators and members of the biomedical research community in Louisiana. This core will also educate our underrepresented minority (URM) undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, summer scholars (DVM Students) with the application and the current advances in pulmonary immunology through lectures, laboratory classes, and workshops. In order to ensure the success of the COBRE in Lung Biology and Disease and of our COBRE PJIs, establishment of the PIP Core is essential to meet the current and future needs of LSU and other institutions because this is the only PIP core in the state of Louisiana. Thus, the PIP Core is intended to be a permanent core at LSU that we will establish, expand, and transit to an independent core during the 15-year COBRE support. The PIP Core has established 3 specific aims.
Aim 1 is to centralize management of wild-type (control) and mouse genetically engineered mouse colonies and immunological reagents.
Aim 2 is to provide the COBRE and other biomedical investigators with resources on comprehensive immunopathological assessments for mice, including instrumentation, technical support and consultation.
Aim 3 is to educate faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, undergraduate students and summer scholars regarding the application and the current advances in immunopathological assessments for mice.
The establishment of the PIP Core is essential to meet the current and future needs of LSU and other institutions because this is the only PIP core in the state of Louisiana. Therefore, the establishment of the PIP Core is intended to be a permanent core at LSU that we will establish, expand, and transit to an independent core during the Phase I-III COBRE support to provide pulmonary physiological, immunological and pathological assessments in mice.
