It’s Emerging Pathogens Laboratory is a modern 6345 sq-ft collection of wet laboratory spaces and offices. This includes 2860 sq-ft of laboratory space, 1600 sq-ft for 18 offices, including 5 student stations, and 1885 sq-ft of shared spaces and storage.

Laboratory personnel are adept in viral and bacterial culture, molecular identification, serotyping, genotyping, and serological studies. The Emerging Pathogens Laboratory is divided into four sections: virology, bacteriology, serology, and molecular studies. Laboratory staff use 13 desk top computers, 6 printers, one facsimile machine, five certified class II biological safety cabinets with gas and vacuum, as well as two certified fume hoods. The laboratories also have multiple large -80°C upright freezers, laboratory refrigerators, CO2 water-jacketed incubators, two rocking egg incubators, microcentrifuges, tabletop refrigerated centrifuges, a Metler analytical balance, an Acculab digital balance, two inverted microscopes, two 96-well thermocyclers, an ELISA reader, four Biorad sub-cell GT agarose gel electrophoresis platforms, a Gel Doc 2000 gel digitizer, and a Biorad iCycler real-time PCR platform. Adjacent shared equipment include two lab-dishwashers, an autoclave, a Millipore water purification system, an ice machine, a drying oven, a Beckman UV-Vis spectrophotometer, a fluorescent microscope, shaking incubators, walk-in refrigerators, a thermo King Fisher nucleic acid purification instrument, a floor model Beckman J2 high speed centrifuge, and a L-80 ultra centrifuge.

The laboratory's focus areas include adenovirus, influenza, human Metapneumovirus, avian pneumovirus, Brucella canis, and Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococcus). The laboratory holds permits (USDA/APHIS and CDC) to work with animal adenovirus, avian pneumovirus type C, Porcine Reproductive & Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV), Porcine Circovirus type 2 (PCV2), Streptococcus suis, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus pyogenes, and all influenza viruses, including highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses. Unique laboratory capabilities include: adenovirus culture, identification, serotyping, and genotyping; human metapneumovirus culture, identification, and genotyping; zoonotic influenza culture (embronated eggs or MDCK tissue culture), identification, serotyping, and genotyping; and Streptococcus agalactiae culture, identification, and genotyping. The Emerging Pathogens Laboratory staff frequently use BSL3 Laboratory and DNA Core Laboratory facilities which belongs to the University of Iowa College of Medicine (see below).

The Center routinely trains laboratory interns in various laboratory techniques. Many of these interns have gone on to win laboratory employment, advanced graduate training or special recognition. A list of laboratory trainees and their accomplishments can be viewed by clicking: trainees.

The Department of Epidemiology has maintained diversity and a multi-emphasis graduate degree program with faculty who have expertise in a variety of areas, with emphasis on those with public health importance to rural America. Academic degrees are offered through the MPH program, the MS in Epidemiology program, the PhD in Epidemiology program and the MS in Clinical Investigation program.

Dr. James Torner is Professor and Head of the Department. The Department currently has 13 full-time faculty, 48 secondary and adjunct faculty, and four research scientists. The research activities support nearly 210 research staff and graduate research assistants. Space for the Department is available in the General Hospital for faculty and administrative staff. Research programs are located in the Westlawn Building, US Bank Building, and Oakdale Hall on campus as well as satellite clinics of the Preventive Intervention Center at the Towncrest Center in Iowa City and in Des Moines and Davenport. Research administration is done through the College of Public Health by dedicated personnel in the Department and Centers: the Iowa Cancer Registry, the Iowa Registry for Congenital and Inherited Disorders, the Preventive Intervention Center, Health Effectiveness Research Center, the Nutrition Research and Resource Center and the Lipid Research Clinic, and the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases. The Departmental faculty are also members of several University and College centers such as the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Center on Aging, the Injury Prevention Research Center, the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, the Center on Health Effects from Environmental Contaminants and the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research.

Areas of research and academic emphasis include aging epidemiology, birth defects epidemiology, cancer epidemiology, cardiovascular disease epidemiology, infectious disease epidemiology, injury epidemiology, neuroepidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, reproductive epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology, and health services research and outcome epidemiology. Sources of funding for grants and contracts are from the NIH (NCI, Fogarty International Center, NIEHS, NHLBI, NIA, NIDR, NIDCD, NINDS, NIMH), the NLM, CDC, NHSTA, NIOSH, HCFA; various foundations (Wellmark Foundation, Arthritis Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson, Cancer Research Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts); associations (American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Dietetic Association, American Emu Association); private industry (Merck, Marion Merrell Dow, AMGEN, Monsanto, Parke-Davis, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Wyeth Ayerst, Miles, Inc, Clex, Bayer, Organon, Schering-Plough, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Hoffman LaRoche, GlaxosmithKline, Proctor and Gamble, Astra Zeneca, Berlex, Acambis, ID Biomedical and USAA); center grants, and institutional grants.

Major research studies include the Agricultural Health Study, the Women’s Health Initiative, the Iowa Cancer Registry, the Iowa Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, National Down Syndrome Project, Muscular Dystrophy Surveillance Tracking and Research Network, Iowa Stillbirth Surveillance Project, the Study of Fluoride and Other Factors in Childhood Bone Development, the International Study of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms, the University of Iowa Older Adults CERT, Lung Cancer Care Outcomes/Surveillance Consortium – Iowa (CanCORS), Adolescent Diet Hormones and Breast Cancer Susceptibility, Promoting Health and Reducing Obesity in Children: A Community-Based Pilot Project in Iowa, Nutrition Experiences in Cancer Prevention, Pharmaceutical Case Management and Living Well with a Disability, National Surveillance for Emerging Adenovirus Infections, Transcriptional and Genetic Profiles in HNSCCs, the Multicenter Knee Osteoarthritis Study, Domestic Abuse in Pregnancy and Adverse Birth Outcomes, and Maternal-Fetal HLA Sharing and Risk of Preeclampsia.

The lab has been designed to safely accomodate research, clinical and diagnostic procedures and our animal housing areas are designed to accomodate rodents and other small animals. In addition to the animal areas, each laboratory contains 3 to 4 individual rooms for virology, microbiology and molecular biology work. Both facilities allow up to approximately 20 researchers to work simultaneously in the 2 laboratories. Together, the labs contain:

• 9 class II biological safety cabinets
• air interlocks
• 4 pass through autoclaves
• 2 showers
  

Uniquely, researchers in our facilities are able to visualize, in real time, microbe-host cell interactions using a Zeiss Microimaging, Inc. fluorescent inverted live-cell imaging system complete with environmental chamber; thus, this powerful system provides our researchers with the unparalelled ability to perform certain microscopy experiments in the lab that otherwise would be impossible because all biological samples must be inactivated prior to removal from the laboratory.

In addition, the experienced facility personnel are an invaluable resource for questions concerning recombinant DNA techniques. Detailed information about the DNA Facility and its services can be obtained at http://dna-9.int-med.uiowa.edu.

The DNA Sequencing Service is a fee-for-service operation. The service presently maintains 3 PE Biosystems autosequencers that include a Model 3700, one Model 3100, and one Model 3730 instrument. Investigators submit DNA samples to the DNA Facility and the sequencing service then performs the sequencing reactions, loads and runs the reactions on an autosequencer, and analyzes and provides the sequencing data. The DNA Sequencing Service uses a fluorescent dye-terminator chemistry, which is a modification of the Sanger-dideoxy method of DNA sequencing, to generate sequencing products for loading the fluorescent automated DNA sequencers. The DNA sequencing result files can be easily transferred to floppy disks or a remote computer or obtained from the DNA Facility web server for analysis and are in a format compatible with most sequence analysis software packages. Three full-time personnel oversee the daily operation of this service.

The DNA Facility also works with commercial oligonucleotide synthesizing companies to obtain custom oligonucleotides for University of Iowa investigators. Oligonucleotides ordered through the facility are routinely used for DNA sequencing, in vitro mutagenesis, amplification of DNA by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), hybridization, anti-sense studies, cloning, gene construction, and many other applications. A variety of scales, levels of purification, and modifying labels such as biotin or fluorescent dyes are available. Requests can be submitted to the DNA Facility electronically over the Internet by using a web browser or e-mail.

The DNA Facility houses the “real-time” or kinetic PCR instrument, the Applied Biosystems Model 7700 and Model 7000 sequence detection systems (the TaqMan instruments). These instruments provide investigators with the means to perform very sensitive, accurate, and reproducible measurements of levels of gene expression. In addition, this instrument can be used in other applications such as measuring viral load, performing allelic discrimination studies, and optimizing PCR conditions. Investigators are asked to provide the PCR reactions that have already been set up and ready to be loaded on the instrument. The DNA Facility loads the instrument, collects data, and performs preliminary data analysis. A hard copy “Experimental Report” and/or an electronic version of the data in the form of a Microsoft Excel workbook file is provided. Additional data analysis is the responsibility of the user, however, core personnel are available to assist and/or advise users in performing further analyses.

The DNA Facility, in cooperation with the University of Iowa Image Analysis Facility, provides and supports the Genetics Computer Group (GCG) Wisconsin software package. This comprehensive UNIX server-based package is a compilation of over 170 programs used for nucleic acid and protein sequence analysis. The Wisconsin package can be accessed via a telnet, X-windows, or web browser interface. In addition, a variety of personal computer software packages for nucleic acid and protein sequence analysis are accessible through the DNA Facility. The facility personnel are available to perform, instruct, or assist in the use of the sequence analysis programs. The types of analyses include, but are not limited to sequence retrievals, restriction enzyme analysis, sequence alignments, PCR and DNA sequencing primer design, and secondary structure analysis.

The DNA Facility also maintains reference materials such as books, laboratory manuals, and videos that describe many of the methods used in the manipulation of nucleic acids. In addition, the experienced facility personnel are an invaluable resource for questions concerning recombinant DNA techniques.