Pitt RBL

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OVERALL ABSTRACT: The Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL) within the Center for Vaccine Research (CVR) at the University of Pittsburgh is the biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) hub for infection biology. The mission of the RBL is threefold, to work on pathogen emergence, evolution and host-to-host transmission, to study the pathogenesis of emerging infectious diseases and to accelerate pre-clinical development of novel interventions and medical countermeasures for pandemic preparedness and biodefense. Our vision is to be a globally recognized, highly- collaborative, creative and forward-facing team of infection biologists who are poised to respond to emerging biological threats both at the national and international level. The entire facility is registered with the Division of Select Agents and Toxins (DSAT). It brings together infection biologists and clinicians from a variety of disciplines who require BSL-3 and animal (A)BSL-3 facilities for their wide ranging viral and bacterial research programs. We propose to establish Operations, Practices and Integrated Services Cores and formally operationalize our existing structures. These have evolved from the time the RBL was established, and although they have served their purpose, require modernization to ensure they will remain current and operationally fit-for-purpose. The Operations Core will have overall management and budgetary responsibility for the RBL. It will administer the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly BSL-3 activities essential for the support and services arms of the RBL to function. This will ensure that the BSL-3 laboratories are run and maintained at the highest standards and they are safe and secure. The Practices Core will support all the basic functions of the RBL enabling scientific programs to be rigorously managed and ensuring overall data integrity for reproducible outcomes. It will provide the requisite theoretical and practical trainings to onboard new RBL Investigators and their teams who wish to work in BSL-3 and ABSL-3 biocontainment. It will provide biosafety and biosecurity support and guarantee the facility meets all current compliance regulations for Tier 1 select agent registered laboratories. The Integrated Services Core will deliver a wide range of high quality BSL-3 and ABSL-3 services for internal users and external collaborators. These will be rigorously overseen by Academic and Service Leads and reviewed annually with the assistance of an external RBL Director, other BSL-3 experts and an internal Scientific Advisory Group. Operational support for the RBL in Pittsburgh will ensure we are ready to support any national response to a range of emerging infectious diseases in the event of another pandemic or bioterrorism attack. Supporting this cohort of BSL-3 scientists, who can pivot to work on new pathogens in an emergency, is certain to pay dividends.