The IVQAC was awarded funding from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), as part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to establish the NHPCVL in December 2017. The Non-Human Primate Core Virology Laboratory (NHPCVL) supports the development and performance of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) or simian human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) viral load assays that are performed in support of HIV vaccine development efforts by HIV/AIDS research laboratories around the world. With this contract, the IVQAC team, led by Thomas N. Denny, MSc, M.Phil, will work to improve and develop assays that are used to detect and characterize viral RNA from samples obtained from non-human primates that are part of HIV/AIDS preclinical research studies. For example, detection of viral RNA will be performed in specimens that include plasma, mucosal tissues or secretions, and lymphoid tissues from non-human primates that have been infected with SIV or SHIV.