ABSTRACT – VIROLOGY CORE The Virology Core will continue to support the ongoing research of the Program by providing customized virological techniques and services performed at a centralized location using standard operating procedures to ensure maximal data consistency. The services provided include virus mutant design and construction for Projects 2 and 3, as well as viral stock production and quality control across all projects. Furthermore, the core will be tasked with receiving all bodily fluids and tissues collected from rhesus macaques in virus challenge experiments over the course of the Program to centrally store, process, and analyze samples. The raw data will be stored centrally through the Admin Core to all project PIs for review and interpretation. The Virology Core team is composed of a group of scientists with years of experience in diverse, non-overlapping areas in basic and translational virology. We can offer guidance and support on a wide range of techniques, including genomic engineering and virus production, tissue handling and processing, next generation sequencing, and data analysis either for quality control purposes or to answer complex research questions involving in vivo virus population analysis and virus evolution. Our pre-existing collaboration will allow us to rely on exstablished, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and pipelines for rapid and reliable sample processing and data generation. All members of the Virology Core are acquainted and have successfully worked together for years in a highly collaborative environment to support intricate multicenter research studies involving NHPs. Hence, the scientific members of the core are in constant communication, and issues and obstacles that might arise over the course of the Program will be discussed, analyzed, and managed collaboratively in a timely manner in close cooperation with the scientific leadership. If needed, the overall goals and responsibilities of the Virology Core can be adjusted by the project administration. Should new techniques or procedures be required for any project, the Virology Core team member with the most relevant expertise in the desired field of research will be tasked with establishing these procedures for general use.