Services for Researchers
In recent years, NIAID has greatly expanded its basic and applied research portfolio for Category A, B and C pathogens and toxins. The Institute has established a comprehensive infrastructure with extensive resources that support all levels of research. This has created a solid base for transitioning to a strategy that embraces multiple broad spectrum concepts. Examples of this infrastructure include the following.
Research Resources Programs
The primary goal of the Bioinformatics Resource Centers (BRCs) is to provide scientists with genomic and related data for NIAID Category A-C priority pathogens, pathogens causing emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, and invertebrate vectors of infectious diseases.
NIAID has provided funding for the construction of National Biocontainment Laboratories (NBLs) and Regional Biocontainment Laboratories (RBLs) at research institutions across the country. The NBLs will serve as a national and regional resource for research on biodefense and emerging infectious disease agents that require biosafety level (BSL) 4/3/2 biocontainment, while the RBLs will serve as a regional resource for research requiring BSL-3/2 biocontainment. The NBLs and RBLs will complement and support the research activities of NIAID’s Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research. The biosafety labs also will be available and prepared to assist national, state, and local public health efforts in the event of a bioterrorism or infectious disease emergency.
Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Program
The primary objectives of this program are to design, develop, populate, and maintain a comprehensive immune epitope database containing antibody and T cell epitopes, with an emphasis on epitopes associated with NIAID Category A, B, and C Priority Pathogens and their toxins; and to develop and maintain an analysis resource to complement and enhance the Immune Epitope Database.
The primary objective of these models is to provide targeted screening of potential therapeutic and prevention modalities for emerging infectious agents and bioterrorism pathogens using in vitro, small animal, and nonhuman primate models to test safety and efficacy. In vitro and animal models are needed to ensure development and testing of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics; preclinical safety testing will be required to speed the development of new generation products.
The main objective of this program is to facilitate the identification of antiviral agents with the potential for treating viral infections of public health importance, including those for newly emerging infections, and those that are not a high priority for the pharmaceutical industry.
NIAID's Microbial Genome Sequencing Centers provide state-of-the-art high throughput DNA sequencing of microbial genomes.
This centralized repository will acquire, authenticate, store, and distribute NIAID Category A, B, and C agents to the scientific community for use in research and product development. It will also produce and dispense reagents, such as DNA clones, body fluids and cells, synthetic peptides, and monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies. The repository will offer an alternative for universities and other institutions that no longer want to store or distribute select agents. New repository acquisitions will be catalogued, tested for quality, and made available to investigators who meet federal guidelines for select agent use.
This centralized facility provides scientists with resources and reagents for conducting functional genomics research on human pathogens and invertebrate vectors of infectious diseases.
The primary goal of the NIAID Proteomics Research Centers is to characterize the pathogen and/or host cell proteome, including the identification of proteins associated with innate and adaptive immune response to infectious agents.
The Biodefense Proteomics Administrative Center consolidates PRC data and makes it available to the scientific community. (non-Government link)
The NIAID Structural Genomics Centers apply structural biology technologies to experimentally characterize the three-dimensional atomic structure of targeted proteins from the NIAID Category A-C priority list and organisms causing emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
The primary objective of the program is to develop an encyclopedia of innate immune system activity. This large-scale collaborative project grant brings together investigators with many different scientific backgrounds and talents to use a "systems biology" approach to better understand how the innate immune system responds to bacteria and viruses, as well as its role in orchestrating adaptive immunity.
The NIH/NIAID Tetramer Facility, located at Atlanta’s Emory University, provides tetramers to researchers from around the world allowing them to conduct experiments that otherwise would be difficult or impossible to complete. These tetramers offer vast improvements over previous procedures for screening T cell responses, but not all laboratories possess the resources required to synthesize and assemble the molecules.
Opportunities for Research Collaboration
The primary objective of the RCE program is to support the NIAID Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Agenda. The RCEs will build and maintain a strong infrastructure supporting multifaceted research and development activities that promote scientific discovery and translational research capacity required to create the next generation of therapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostics for the NIAID Category A – C agents.
Cooperative Centers for Translational Research on Human Immunology and Biodefense
These Cooperative Centers will form a research network to advance laboratory and clinical findings on human immune response to bioterrorism agents. Among other efforts, researchers will develop new ways to get information from single immune cells to test very small tissue and blood samples.
Training
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