Insectary for Scientific Training and Advances in Research (InSTAR)

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Project Summary – CORE D: Insectary for Scientific Training and Advances in Research (InSTAR) Insects provide excellent model systems with which to study the interactions between hosts and their microbiota. These insect models advance our understanding of the impact of microbial symbionts on host development, metabolism, immune function, and overall system fitness, and produce generalizable information that informs human health. In addition, the symbiotic microbes of insects have direct impacts on public health because microbial symbionts influence the survival, development, cellular function, and immunity of insect pests and disease vectors that contribute significantly to the global public health burden, especially in the tropics. The central objective of this proposal is to develop an insectary facility that will enable the use of insects to study the environmental microbiome by researchers at the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa. Currently, this major research university does not have a high-containment biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) facility, which greatly reduces the capacity of researchers at this institution to utilize insect models to study the impact of the environmental microbiome on human health. The proposed Insectary for Scientific Training and Advances in Research (InSTAR) will provide such a high-containment, BSL-2 certified insectary space and greatly facilitate use of insect models to investigate biomedical questions that impact human health. Importantly, the InSTAR facility will provide critical infrastructure for at least four junior investigators on this COBRE, and will fully integrate with existing facilities at UHM that support a renowned community of researchers investigating the microbiome. Over the long term, the core will facilitate medical entomology in the State of Hawai`i, increasing the capacity to respond to public health threats imposed by insects. In addition, it will promote research toward developing new model systems focusing on unique native Hawaiian insects, and serve as a resource that facilitates access to Hawaii`s distinctive biodiversity to the global research community.