Expanding HIV/AIDS-Related Animal Housing and Experimental Procedure Space at the WNPRC

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract Since 2016, the number of HIV/AIDS-related research protocols at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WNPRC) has escalated at a particularly rapid pace as a result of the growth of the programs of core investigators and an increase in collaborative studies with affiliate investigators nationwide. This rapid increase has placed a strain on the existing WNPRC infrastructure dedicated to the support of infectious disease studies (e.g., animal housing space, animal enclosures, animal clinical/procedure rooms). In addition to these increases, several recent trends have further exacerbated limitations on available animal housing and procedure space, including the following: 1. An increase in the average duration of HIV/AIDS-related experiments due to the administration of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART), sophisticated vaccine regimens, and SIV/SHIV latency reversing agents 2. The need to segregate animals negative for adeno-associated virus (AAV) strains used as gene delivery vectors 3. Competition with other emerging infectious diseases such as Zika and Dengue viruses, 4. Pressure to socially house SIV/SHIV-infected animals. To continue to meet the demands of our increasingly ambitious scientific agenda over the next few years, it will be critical for the WNPRC to expand its existing physical infrastructure dedicated to supporting studies in SIV/SHIV-infected macaques. This proposal requests funding to construct a 4,300 sq. ft., nine room infectious disease suite as an addition to the already existing Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research (WIMR) NHP vivarium and to equip the new vivarium with state-of-the-art nonhuman primate enclosures that facilitate safe and effective restraint of macaques while simultaneously providing novel socialization opportunities. The new infectious disease suite will consist of eight macaque holding rooms with the capacity to hold 20-24 animals each (total capacity = 172) and one procedure room engineered to support a variety of procedures commonly performed with SIV/SHIV infected macaques (e.g., virus inoculation, blood collection, peripheral lymph node biopsy, jejunal, colon, and rectal biopsy, anti-retroviral drug administration, and bronchoalveolar lavage). The suite will provide ample space for all currently funded and future HIV/AIDS-related projects and will ensure that each macaques physical and psychological well-being is maintained at an exemplary level.