The NEIDL ARC maintains and infects arthropod vectors, such as Aedes aegypti and Culex mosquitoes to study, understand, and investigate the dynamics of infected insects and vertebrate hosts using medically important arboviruses such as dengue, Zika, West Nile, yellow fever, Chikungunya, and others.
The NEIDL ARC provides unique and specialized services to researchers at Boston University as well as to external partners. To initiate a project, please fill out the ARC- Service Request Form (SRF).
The ARC’s mission is to support arboviral research projects that contribute to the development of treatments and prophylaxis for arthropod-borne diseases. The insectary facility complies with Arthropod Containment Level-2 and 3 (ACL-2, ACL-3) standards. All research projects are led by the NEIDL ARC Director Fabiana Feitosa-Suntheimer.
The ARC will Provide:
Scientific Planning and Oversight:
Each project will undergo careful evaluation by the core director. Scientific support includes:
- Experimental design and consultation (we offer fee-for-service).
- Meetings with requestors to refine study goals.
- Data analysis and interpretation of the final data.
- Providing detailed methods and conclusions suitable for publication or grant submissions.
Services Available:
- Mosquito natural blood feeding
- Mosquito Hemoteck feeding
- Injection with RG2/RG3 viruses
- Dissection of mosquitoes
- Immunofluorescence Assay IFA and imaging
- Total RNA extraction
- qPCR
- Titration assays PFU / FFU /TCID 50
- Consulting and reporting, per hour
Insectary Decontamination:
Depending on the specific project, insectary decontamination may be required upon completion of experiments. The associated cost will be included in the project quote.
Special Services:
Services beyond ARC’s standard scope will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, contingent on the insectary’s resources and capabilities.
How to Schedule Services:
Contact the ARC Director
Fabiana Feitosa-Suntheimer, PhD
(617) 358-9247 | ffeitosa@bu.edu
620 Albany Street
Boston, MA 02118