INFECTIOUS DISEASE AEROBIOLOGY CORE

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The infectious disease aerobiology core is now fully operational at the TNRPC. The core has all the technical capabilities required for bioaerosol characterization and aerosol challenge of diverse infectious agents; the core is also capable of aerosol delivery of vaccines and therapeutics. The exposure facility is located within the CDC-approved select agent registered biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) facility located at the TNPRC. A second exposure facility has been constructed in a new larger BSL-3 facility and, once commissioned and inspected, will become the primary location for the core. In addition to nonhuman primate aerosol exposure capability, the core also performs aerosol exposures on smaller animals. Establishment of this core provides a unique resource that enables investigators to perform key experiments to further understand the biological basis of airborne-transmitted infectious diseases. In addition to the core director Dr. Chad J. Roy, the core is staffed by Dr. Satheesh Sivasubrahamni who serves as a fulltime research scientist. Microbiological support for the core also includes support from Dr. Deepak Kaushal. In the last year of operation, the core has been consistently engaged in collaborative research studies with both intramural and NIH-funded extramural investigators; the number of extramural users of the core exceeds ten collaborating laboratories. The majority of core collaborative research involves experimental aerosol infection as an essential component of studies broader research goals such as disease model development or vaccine efficacy. In addition to experimental infection, the core is instrumental in providing aerosol characterization for novel pathogenic agents (e.g., RSV) and aerosol viability assessment for viral-vectored vaccine products. Requests for microbial efficiency studies using novel microbial agents (e.g., naked DNA, Burkholderia sp.) have also continued to increase as collaborative laboratories learn of the capabilities made available through this core.