The Immunology Core I was originally established as the Molecular Immunology Core with three subcoresfocused on humoral immunity, cellular immunity, and flow-based assays. The mission of this Core is todevelop, refine, and provide by training and technology-transfer state-of-the-art immunological assays toevaluate and quantify humoral and cellular responses to support NIH-sponsored AIDS research and training.The assays, reagents, and training offered by the Core are designed to support basic, clinical, andtranslational research in the prevention, detection, and treatment of HIV infection and AIDS. During the lastfive years, this Immunology Core has significantly increased its user base, with an overall 3.9-fold increase intotal users from 21 to 82, and a 5.4-fold increase in support of local users (60% of total) and a 2.8-foldincrease in non-local users (40% of total). Since 2002, the Immunology Core has continuously worked toexpand its impact by focusing on the training of investigators in the use of the Core's technologies. As anexample of these activities, we developed a hands-on workshop entitled 'Research ELISA Assays: ThePractical Guide' in Nairobi, Kenya, February 14-25, 2005. Highlights of research progress during the lastfive years have included studies on HIV Envelope tropism, Envelope variation and its relationship to thedevelopment of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs), the role of antibodies in perinatal transmission in nonhumanprimates, examination of the role of IgG with ADCC activity in newborn macaques, hepatitis C-specific T cellresponses and phenotypic analysis of liver NK T cells, gamma-delta T cell involvement in the viral immunecontrol of chronic human herpesvirus-8 (HHV8) infection, epitope-specific T cell proliferation in HIV-infectedsubjects with long-term nonprogression, detailed examination of T cell responses to HIV-2, novel scaffoldapproaches to present HIV Envelope epitopes as vaccines, and support of translational studies. Over thenext five years, we propose: (1) continuous development of state-of-the art assays within a more streamlinedorganization with two cores located in two, rather than three, locations; (2) the inclusion of a new CoreManager; (3) a redistributed budget to support a higher level of personnel to provide expanded services to awider group of users; (4) linkages to a new Protein Core at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute toobtain materials in a more cost-effective manner; and (5) a stronger focus on outreach, with training sessionsfor individual investigators and technical workshops for groups requesting services to transfer technologyand reagents.
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