Mucosal Immunolocy Core Laboratory
Justin Akin
jakin@mednet.ucla.edu
(310) 794-7195
MRL 1529
http://gastro.ucla.edu/site.cfm?id=227

Fosters multi-disciplinary interactions for further advances in HIV/AIDS by bridging basic, translational and clinical investigators in HIV-related pathogenesis, treatment strategies and vaccine development. The MICL provides freshly acquired or archived biosamples and offers mucosal-specific assays to investigators with the most functionally-relevant biosamples without requiring them to go through IRB and regulatory hurdles. The MICL offers access to (1) a smoothly functioning small clinical trials unit with proven expertise in clinical management, subject recruitment and endoscopic procedures, (2) a laboratory with a reputation of developing/optimizing novel mucosal assays and (3) the ability to gain consultative input for protocols/grant applications so they are more firmly grounded in mucosal assessments and feasible, testable endpoints for pilot studies. The MICL assists users with patient selection, tissue procurement, sample processing, and assistance in IRB submissions, refinements in hypothesis testing, detecting changes in the local versus systemic immune response and evaluating treatment responses at the tissue level. Especially for investigators without direct access to their own patient populations, the MICL provides users with a coordinated, time-efficient and quality-enforced approach to acquire well-characterized human gut tissue using its core/MICL-specific, IRB-approved consent form.