# Pitt RBL

> **NIH NIH UC7** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $2,594,826

## Abstract

OVERALL
ABSTRACT:
The Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL) within the Center for Vaccine Research (CVR) at the University
of Pittsburgh is the biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) hub for infection biology. The mission of the RBL is threefold, to
work on pathogen emergence, evolution and host-to-host transmission, to study the pathogenesis of
emerging infectious diseases and to accelerate pre-clinical development of novel interventions and medical
countermeasures for pandemic preparedness and biodefense. Our vision is to be a globally recognized, highly-
collaborative, creative and forward-facing team of infection biologists who are poised to respond to emerging
biological threats both at the national and international level. The entire facility is registered with the Division of
Select Agents and Toxins (DSAT). It brings together infection biologists and clinicians from a variety of disciplines
who require BSL-3 and animal (A)BSL-3 facilities for their wide ranging viral and bacterial research programs.
We propose to establish Operations, Practices and Integrated Services Cores and formally operationalize our
existing structures. These have evolved from the time the RBL was established, and although they have served
their purpose, require modernization to ensure they will remain current and operationally fit-for-purpose. The
Operations Core will have overall management and budgetary responsibility for the RBL. It will administer the
daily, weekly, monthly and yearly BSL-3 activities essential for the support and services arms of the RBL to
function. This will ensure that the BSL-3 laboratories are run and maintained at the highest standards and they
are safe and secure. The Practices Core will support all the basic functions of the RBL enabling scientific
programs to be rigorously managed and ensuring overall data integrity for reproducible outcomes. It will provide
the requisite theoretical and practical trainings to onboard new RBL Investigators and their teams who wish to
work in BSL-3 and ABSL-3 biocontainment. It will provide biosafety and biosecurity support and guarantee the
facility meets all current compliance regulations for Tier 1 select agent registered laboratories. The Integrated
Services Core will deliver a wide range of high quality BSL-3 and ABSL-3 services for internal users and external
collaborators. These will be rigorously overseen by Academic and Service Leads and reviewed annually with the
assistance of an external RBL Director, other BSL-3 experts and an internal Scientific Advisory Group.
Operational support for the RBL in Pittsburgh will ensure we are ready to support any national response to a
range of emerging infectious diseases in the event of another pandemic or bioterrorism attack. Supporting this
cohort of BSL-3 scientists, who can pivot to work on new pathogens in an emergency, is certain to pay dividends.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10910178
- **Project number:** 5UC7AI180311-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** William Paul Duprex
- **Activity code:** UC7 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $2,594,826
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-18 → 2028-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10910178

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10910178, Pitt RBL (5UC7AI180311-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10910178. Licensed CC0.

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