- Provision of state-of-the-art BSL 2-3 laboratory space, equipment and professional staff. The virology core enables CFAR members to conduct research important to the understanding of HIV biology, pathogenesis, immunological response, intervention, prevention, and assay development. The BSL 2-3 facility, including all of the major equipment, is made available to its users.
- Education and training for “live” HIV virus studies. A fundamentally important service of the BSL 2-3 core is education and training - especially as it pertains to research activities with live HIV. A committed, highly skilled professional staff is also available providing comprehensive education and training in areas of laboratory safety, equipment utilization, virus cell culture, and virologic assays to support basic and clinical research. This is all conducted under strict adherence to NIH/CDC guidelines for safety.
- Provision of defined research reagents and materials. The core maintains and provides on an as needed basis, research materials/reagents including an extensive inventory of defined cells line, primary and clonal virus stocks, including newly derive “transmitted viruses”, proviral DNA, HIV-specific monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies that are applicable to several different assays including immunofluorescence, radioimmunoprecipitation, immunoblot, and flow cytometry, and numerous relevant recombinant DNAs. The Core also provides the necessary instruction for utilization of these reagents.
- Support of multidisciplinary and translation research projects. The BSL 2-3 Laboratory has been highly successful fostering basic and translational research in multidisciplinary AIDS related fields, including inter-institutional programmatic efforts and diverse investigator-initiated grants in areas of molecular virology, physiology, immunology, mucosal immunology, neurology, geographical medicine and international health.
- Development of new research tools for basic, clinical and translational HIV/AIDS research. The expertise and knowledge of the staff is also available to assist with the development of new research tools, such as assays and reagents, for HIV/AIDS related studies conducted by core users. Many of these services are provided by the Molecular Biology Lab which is is located in room 346 of the Bevill Biomedical Research Building.