The Allergy/Immunology Laboratory

The Allergy/Immunology Laboratory of the Division of Allergy, Immunology & Rheumatology focuses on HIV, developmental immunology and its relation to the development of immune deficiency in children and adolescents, examination of inflammatory cytokines following exposure to marine toxins, and studies of T cell responses to vaccine in healthy children and adolescents. 

The laboratory occupies approximately 2400 sq ft within the Children's Research Institute of the USF/All Childrne's Hospital located in St. Petersburg, FL.  Key laboratory equipment includes: 3-laser Becton Dickinson LSR II flow cytometer, 3-laser BD FACSAria cell sorter, BD FACSCalibur flow cytometer, ABI Prism thermocycler for real-time quantitative PCR, Coulter ACT-2 diff whole blood analyzer and a Bio-Tek EL-800 colorimetric ELISA plate reader.  The BD FACSAria sorter is housed within a 10 ft. class II BSC for sterile sorting and sorting of infectious material.  The laboratory equipment also includes a variety of +4^OC, -20^OC, and -80^OC refrigerators and freezers, incubators, microscopes, and centrifuges.  A sample repository is included within the lab space consisting of an MVE liquid nitrogen storage facility capable of storing up to 75,000 1 ml samples. The storage facilities are monitored by a A2LA accredited Veriteq temperature monitoring system. Samples are tracked using bar-coded labels and the Laboratory Data Management System (LDMS).  Over 250 sq. ft. is dedicated to a self-sufficient BSL-3 facility complete with its own liquid nitrogen repository, class II BSCs, two-way autoclave, incubators, freezers, refrigerators, and inverted tissue culture microscope.  The laboratory is CLIA certified for Flow Cytometry and it serves as the sample processing and protocol repository for ATN061, MTN004 and participates in protocols P1025, 1066 and ATN063.

The Division of Allergy, Immunology & Rheumatology also has a comprehensive clinical program and the only accredited Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Fellowship Training Program in Florida.

Click here to see a list of current research projects and publications.

Contact us at:

Children's Research Institute
601 4th Street South, CRI 4008
Saint Petersburg, FL  33701
727-553-1259
Bob Follet; Laboratory Manager
bfollet@health.usf.edu