The main objective of the Primate Core is to provide NCCFAR investigators the ability to conduct pilot primate studies designed to gather preliminary data for a NIH grant submission and increase collaboration with non-primate researchers involved in AIDS research. Pilot projects will be solicited by the Developmental Core, reviewed by the Scientific Review Committee and recommended for funding. The costs for the primate use in the approved pilot projects will be covered by the budget of Primate Core. In addition, the resources of the Primate Core may be used to support supplemental studies that are related to NIH funded active grants to investigators at University of California, Davis (UC Davis), Viral and Rickettisial Disease Laboratory/California Department of Health Services (VRDL/CDHS) at Berkeley and the University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley). The Primate Core will support studies that are designed to perform proof of concept experiments and to test hypotheses based on clinical observations in HIV-infected patients, or to conduct initial testing of specific antiviral intervention strategies. Studies of antiviral therapy and vaccine development will be especially appropriate for testing in the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) and Simian-human Immunodeficiency Virus (SHIV)-infected rhesus macaque models available through the Primate Core. The Primate Core will provide a vehicle to conduct preclinical studies in monkeys that are coordinated with planned, or ongoing, studies conducted by basic and clinical NCCFAR investigators. Thus, the NCCFAR, and the Primate Core, will provide investigators with the translational research opportunities that have been missing at the participating institutions of NCCFAR.
