University of North Carolina CFAR Core D Virology Laboratory;Director: Susan A Fiscus, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology &Immunology;Associate Director: Leslie Petch, Ph.D. The Virology Core Laboratory provides laboratory support and facilitates basic AIDS research to CFAR investigators at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Family Health International (FHI), and Research Triangle Institute (RTI). Specifically the Virology Core Laboratory is a group of established investigators and very experienced technologists who provide a high level of expertise in state of the art clinical and molecular assays for culturing, quantitating, and sequencing HIV. In addition we provide institutional infrastructure such as a repository for storage of biological specimens in conjuction with the Immunology and Clincial Cores, current CDC-USPHS permit for importing HIV+ specimens from foreign countries, and a BSL-3 facility. The UNC Core D Lab provides scientific leadership locally to six CFAR working groups, nationally to the AACTG, PACTG, HPTN, and ATN, and internationally to CIPRA and the CDC-GAP. We stimulate collaboration in interdisciplinary and translational research by helping numerous CFAR investigators from a wide variety of UNC CFAR departments or institutions;strengthen capacity in Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Africa, among others;foster scientific communication, contributing to 107 abstracts and 127 peerreviewed manuscripts over the past five years;sponsor training opportunities to numeorus foreign and domestic investigators and study coodinators;and facilitate technology transfer and development through promotion of scientific collaborations between UNC and Gen-Probe, CavidiTech, and Perkin-Elmer. Major accomplishments over the past five years have been in the fields of acute HIV infection and prevention of mother to child transmission (CDC-Breastfeeding and Nutrition Study, CDC-Global AIDS Project, NVAZ). Other major studies that are supported the UNC CFAR include: Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group, HIV Prevention Trial Unit in Malawi, Fogarty international training grant, and grants dealing with HIV in compartments.
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