This application requests renewal of the """"""""Squirrel Monkey Breeding and Research Resource"""""""" (SMBRR), P40 RR01254 which has received continuous NCRR support since 1980. The overall goals of this project are to provide a national research resource to the biomedical research community and to carry out research leading to a better understanding of squirrel monkey biology and research uses. The SMBRR has evolved into the only resource of squirrel monkeys in the United States available to NIH grantees. This has led to the development of a research and management group with expertise on reproduction, diseases, and basic biology of the squirrel monkey. The SMBRR meets biomedical research needs in three ways. First, it provides a national research resource of laboratory-born squirrel monkeys. Second, our research activities add new information about the biology of squirrel monkeys with particular emphasis on squirrel monkey biology, health, and colony management. Third, the SMBRR provides tissues, biological fluids, and cell lines resources to investigators throughout the country. A new feature of the SMBRR is the proposed Immunology Core that will provide new information on the squirrel monkey immune system and immuno-reagents that can be used in studies that utilize squirrel monkeys. These activities provide unique resources to the research community while reducing the need to import squirrel monkeys for research. The scarcity of squirrel monkeys, difficulties associated with captive breeding, and the need for a site with in depth expertise with this species make the SMBRR a unique and important research resource. The SMBRR has integrated multiple disciplines into a program designed to meet the needs of investigators. A reproductively successful, self-sustaining supply of squirrel monkeys has been established for biomedical research while continuing to add to our understanding of the basic biology of squirrel monkeys. Over the past 29 years, much of our research has focused on characterization of the natural biology and diseases of squirrel monkeys with an emphasis on potential models of human disease. We propose to continue this research with studies proposed in the Clinical Management Core, the Behavioral Management Gore, and the Immunology Core. The Resource Management Core continues to expand resource activities to meet changing research needs. The balance between scientific investigation and breeding resource management has created an environment that encourages inquiry and collaborative investigations while providing a scarce nonhuman primate research resource to other institutions and investigators.
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