Performing Department
Molecular Biomedical Sciences
Non Technical Summary
This proposal is in response to FY 2014 Foundational Animal Reproduction A1211 request for applications. The conference is to be held at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel in Raleigh NC from 07/06/2014-07/08/201 The Swine in Biomedical Research Conference 2014 will highlight thegrowing utility of swine models in biomedical research. In the toolbox category, thetransformational character of meganucleases such as Tal effector nucleases and CRISPR-cas arejust beginning to be appreciated. Similarly, advances in cellular reprogramming of somatic cells into pluripotent cells continues to advance at a rapid pace and will provide novel applications in both agriculture and human and animal health. In the applications category, there is still much toexplore in immunology, nutrition, transplantation, cardiovascular disease, and orthopedics. Newinitiatives are also warranted in zoonotic diseases, bioengineering and regenerative medicine. Thetransformational power of meganucleases will allow the generation of powerful swine models ofuse in agriculture and biomedical research. These models will have impact in reproduction,nutrition, and human and animal health that are just now beginning to be explored. This conference will provide an excellent platform for discussion of these models. Recent workshops have focused on utilizing animal sciences expertise traditionally supported by the USDA can support of NIH funded investigators that utilizing pig models. These joint USDA and NIH discussions identified cultural differences and the lack of in depth knowledge of needs and opportunities as major rate limiting issues. Hence, this conference has been organized to directly address these acknowledged limitations.
Animal Health Component
80%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
0%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
Specific Aim 1. Identify areas of study or methodologies that enhance the utility of pigsas dual use (USDA/NIH) and biomedical models. In particular, the conference will focus onidentifying human diseases where traditional rodent models have not proven relevant, where themodels have relevance to both the USDA and the NIH mission, where the historical use of swinein this regard may be enhanced, or where no useful models exist today and for which pigs maybe considered.Specific Aim 2. Stimulate interactions between researchers working within swine andhuman disciplines. To date, the majority of researchers focusing on either porcine physiologyand related disciplines are in separate research communities than those conducting clinicallyfocused research. The conference will provide a forum for introductions and to identify jointprograms and research targets to further facilitate the utility of the pig.Specific Aim 3. Provide an integrated discussion focusing on the regulated use of pigsand regulatory approval pathways associated with the use of pigs for biomedical research.Barriers for the full utilization of the pig as a biomedical model, e.g. are related to thedevelopment of appropriate animal protocols and housing, will be addressed.
Project Methods
The Swine in Biomedical Research Conference 2014 willhighlight the growing utility of swine models in biomedical research. In the toolbox category,the transformational character of meganucleases such as Tal effector nucleases (TALENs;Carlson et al., 2012; Joung & Sander, 2013) and CRISPR-cas (Cong et al., 2013), are justbeginning to be appreciated. Similarly, advances in cellular reprogramming of somatic cells intopluripotent cells continues to advance at a rapid pace and will provide novel applications in bothagriculture and human and animal health. In the applications category, there is still much toexplore in immunology, nutrition, transplantation, cardiovascular disease, and orthopedics. Newinitiatives are also warranted in zoonotic diseases, bioengineering and regenerative medicine.The transformational power of meganucleases will allow the generation of powerful swinemodels of use in agriculture and biomedical research. These models will have impact inreproduction, nutrition, and human and animal health that are just now beginning to be explored.This conference will provide an excellent platform for discussion of these models. In addition,the pig genome has now been completed and sequence information can be used to constructmodels to development new means of diagnosing and treating life style-related diseases. Theability to genetically modify and clone pigs further enhances the value of the pig for dissectingdisease mechanisms and validating clinical therapies. Recent workshops have focused onutilizing animal sciences expertise traditionally supported by the USDA can support of NIHfunded investigators that utilizing pig models. These joint USDA and NIH discussions identifiedcultural differences and the lack of in depth knowledge of needs and opportunities as major ratelimiting issues. Hence, this conference has been organized to directly address theseacknowledged limitations. First, the Organizing Committee has selected individuals whoseresearch has successfully transcended both health and animal science cultures. Second, theinvited speakers will showcase investigations using the pig that demonstrate successfulapplications as well as promising areas that require engagement across the proposed culturaldivide. Finally, we will invite USDA and NIH representations to lead discussions on integratingrespective strengths into addressing critical biomedical research issues.