Laboratory Core

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The STD-TM-CRC laboratory core will 1) provide necessary specialized microbiological and laboratory expertise for investigators performing clinical, epidemiological and behavioral projects within the STD-TMCRC; 2) facilitate the rapid application of new advances in basic sciences or molecular biology to relevant laboratory and epidemiological projects within the STD-TM-CRC; 3) serve as a national and international reference laboratory for other investigators studying STDs; and 4) maintain a chlamydia and gonorrhea registry. The laboratory expertise provided in the core will consist of highly specialized laboratory tests that are not routinely available even in other research laboratories but are integral to the success of proposed epidemiological or clinical research. Examples of such tests include determination of C. trachomatis serovars; determination of gonococcal auxotypes and serotypes; nucleic acid amplification tests for chlamydia, gonorrhea and Mycoplasma genitalium; pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis of N. gonorrhoeae; MOMP nucleotide sequences of selected chlamydia strains; and micro IF serology for C. trachomatis. Provision of these and other tests in a core laboratory ensures that they will be performed by technically experienced investigators, reduces costs by economy of scale, and makes these tests available to researchers conducting behavioral and epidemiological studies who might otherwise not have access to laboratory collaborators. The core will also actively seek to transfer appropriate technology from basic science laboratories to relevant clinical and epidemiological projects. New procedures will be developed and implemented as needed. Examples in this funding period will include nucleic acid amplification tests for trichomonas and M. genitalium and detection of HPV-DNA using urine specimens.The procedures performed within the laboratory core will be available as a national and international resource for other investigators, eliminating the need for them to develop expensive and technically demanding tests.