# Integrated Services Core

> **NIH NIH UC7** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $879,285

## Abstract

INTEGRATED SERVICES CORE
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.
Biocontainment work is operationally complex, infrastructure-dense, and comprehensively regulated. Running
BSL-3 laboratories safely, securely and successfully demands having a well-organized and highly integrated
team of administrators, scientists, biosafety/biosecurity professionals, engineers/facilities staff and
veterinarians/zootechnical staff. This is especially important in multi-pathogen, multi-user research facilities that
study standard and select agent BSL-3 pathogens. 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:** 10910185
- **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:** $879,285
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-18 → 2028-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10910185

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10910185, Integrated Services Core (5UC7AI180311-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10910185. Licensed CC0.

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