# Core B: Clinical and Anatomic Pathology Core

> **NIH NIH P01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2021 · $405,689

## Abstract

Core B. Clinical and Anatomical Pathology Core: Abstract
The Clinical and Anatomic Pathology Core (CAP, Core B) will provide critical infrastructure support to the
proposed `Revealing Reservoirs during Rebound' (R3) program. While antiretroviral treatment (ART) can
effectively suppress HIV replication and prolong life of infected individuals, the virus persists in a latent state,
only to re-emerge when ART is stopped. HIV-infected persons who interrupt their ART, offer a valuable
opportunity to better understand how HIV persists throughout the body.
The CAP Core is one of three Cores providing support services to R3 scientific Research Projects (RPs) to
improve program efficiency. Overall, the CAP Core will oversee the collection, transportation, processing, and
storage of biological samples from both existing cohorts and prospectively identified cohorts. Specifically, the
Early Treatment RP will provide biological samples from existing and ongoing cohorts of HIV-infected individuals
who initiated ART early after infection (Zurich Primary Infection Cohort and AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5345),
had fully suppressed viremia for at least 48 weeks, and who later stopped therapy. The Late Treatment RP will
evaluate biological samples collected from a prospectively recruited cohort of altruistic HIV-infected individuals
on ART who have a terminal illness (e.g. solid organ cancer, cardiovascular disease) and who will voluntarily
stop their ART before they die and then donate their bodies to the program (the `Last Gift' cohort). All of these
samples will be used to measure cellular and tissue reservoirs of HIV to best understand how HIV reservoirs
persist during ART and after voluntary ART interruption. Biological samples collected from the Early Treatment
RP (blood plasma and PBMC) and Late Treatment RP (blood and full body tissues) participants will constitute
the R3 Biorepository, managed by the CAP Core. The CAP Core will also support all clinical activities related to
the Last Gift cohort including study enrollment, management, specimen collection, and post-mortem autopsy to
address viral rebound patterns across a wide variety of tissue samples and will ensure that procedures related
to biological specimen collection are safe and ethical. Overall, the CAP Core will address the following Specific
Aims: 1) Support the Early Treatment RP with specimen shipping, storage and management; 2) Support Late
Treatment Research RP with management of the Last Gift cohort; 3) Support Late Treatment RP with specimen
shipping, storage and management from Last Gift cohort; and 4) Support the R3 Biorepository. The CAP Core
will work collaboratively with the program RP and Cores to support coordinated development of the R3
Biorepository and appropriate access to research specimens. Together, these activities will provide efficiency
throughout the R3 program.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10223141
- **Project number:** 5P01AI131385-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** SUSAN JANET LITTLE
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $405,689
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10223141

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10223141, Core B: Clinical and Anatomic Pathology Core (5P01AI131385-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10223141. Licensed CC0.

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