Research Project
2825612
This 5-year renewal for Grant P51 RR00163 includes requests for support of the Center's AIDS-related research programs and improvement and Modernization projects. The application reflects the significant changes that have occurred at the Center since it was last reviewed in 1994, as well as our plans for expanding the use of nonhuman primates (NHPs) as models for human disease. The aims of this application are to: 1) provide the infrastructure support necessary to conduct advanced research for which NHPs are uniquely suited for solutions of human health problems; 2) enhance the Center's resources (scientific expertise, laboratories, animal services and equipment so as to serve as a regional, national and international resource research through support of our unique programs to develop genetically identical animals, to produce SPF animals free of viruses such as herpes B, and to define animal parentage and genotype; and 4) build new research programs utilizing NHPs in functional genomics, aging, gene therapy and vaccine development. These aims facilitate the research programs housed n the research divisions. Research in the Division of Neuroscience focuses n neuroendocrinology, the effects of aging on brain function, etiology of stress-related pathologies and affective disorders, growth factors and lung development, drug addiction and depression, dietary components is involved in research that includes molecular aspects of CMV latency, blood brain barrier dysfunction in AIDS, studies of SIV neurotropism, effects of altered cell tropism on the pathologic potential of type D retrovirus, the role of T and B cell responses in retrovirus infections, an the role of homocysteine in atherosclerosis. The Division of Reproductive Sciences houses projects including nuclear embryos transfer, causes of premature labor, neuroendocrine regulation of the menstrual cycle and prolactin secretion, the role of sex steroids in ovarian function and vascular occlusion, hormonal control of the reproductive tract, and the cell biology of fertilization. Support services for the intra- and extramural research programs are provided by three services divisions. The Division of Administration oversees all of the operations of the Center. The Division of Animal Resources is responsible for the veterinarian and animal care that supports the health and well being of our animal population. The Division of Information Technology and Engineering oversees all of the communications and bioengineering services of the Center.
