ERC Einstein Rockefeller CUNY Center for AIDS Research

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PROJECT SUMMARY ERC-CFAR: BIOMARKER AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY CORE (BATC) To support the overarching goal of the ERC-CFAR to end the HIV epidemic, the Biomarker and Advanced Technology Core (BATC) provides state-of-the-art technologies, services and consultations to enhance our understanding of HIV biology and mechanisms and accelerate the development of novel approaches for prevention and cure. The BATC supports implementation research to improve the effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and treatment as prevention (TasP). The BATC infrastructure supports established and early stage HIV/AIDS researchers as well as new investigators who are expanding their research to include HIV/AIDS-related studies at Einstein, Rockefeller, and CUNY. The leadership provides unique consultation services that leverage their experience to identify opportunities within and outside the BATC. The BATC provides cutting-edge services for our investigators and members of the HIV and Mental Health Scientific Working Group to accomplish their research, mentors and trains the next generation of HIV investigators, recruits established investigators into HIV research, and forges new collaborations across Einstein, Rockefeller and CUNY and other regional academic centers. The Aims of the BATC are: 1) Provide investigators with technological support to examine and evaluate novel approaches to prevent, treat and cure HIV infection and to characterize HIV pathogenesis. The BATC provides a wide array of services including biomarker assays and measurement of antiretroviral drug adherence, which are critical for PrEP, PEP and TasP studies. The BATC analyzes body fluids, culture supernatants and cell lysates for immune molecules and antiviral drug pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics using high-throughput multiplex platforms, ELISAs, and mass spectrometry. The BATC provides isolated cell types from human leukopaks and from blood from people with HIV (PWH). The BATC serves as a liaison with the Clinical and Translational Science Core to process blood from PWH leukapharesed at Einstein or Rockefeller to isolate and freeze various cell types for future use by ERC-CFAR investigators. The BATC will customize assays for HIV RNA/DNA quantification and import and establish cutting edge technologies; 2) Provide investigators with state-of-the-art technologies in the Protein Sciences to support studies of HIV biology, mechanism, and treatment. The BATC provides critical protein reagents for development of novel biologics for HIV eradication, protein antigens to study cellular and humoral immunity, and large quantities of materials for structural and biochemical characterization of proteins and assemblies critical for HIV infection and life cycle. It provides unique cell-based assays to characterize receptor-ligand interactions, including those linked to antibody dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity, a critical aspect of vaccines and immunotherapies; 3) Implement and evaluate the utility and feasibility of new technologies for inclusion within BATC. The BATC implemented bioinformatics services and is evaluating new technologies for inclusion within the BATC, including metabolomics and proteomics.