DIVISION OF PRIMATE RESOURCES: ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR?S OFFICE PROJECT SUMMARY The Division of Primate Resources is responsible for providing the necessary colony management, animal procurement, veterinary/behavioral care, diagnostic, husbandry, technical and regulatory compliance support to ensure that the highest quality biomedical research can be conducted at the WaNPRC. The division is composed of 8 integrated units which are detailed in the following sections and include Associate Director (AD), Breeding Colony Management Services (BCMS), Veterinary Services (VS), Behavioral Management Services (BMS), Comparative Pathology Services (CPS), Primate Services (PS), Division of Primate Resources Operations (DPRO), and the Primate Diagnostic Services Laboratory (PDSL). The AAALAC- accredited program encompasses 3 Seattle based facilities that are focused on the conduct of biomedical research, a breeding colony in Arizona managed by the DPR, and offsite contract breeding colonies in Louisiana and Texas. An additional $130M state-of-the-art biomedical Animal Research Care Facility (ARCF) is currently under construction and will provide the DPR with increased space for primate housing, procedures, surgery, endoscopy, imaging, and necropsy. The WaNPRC has more than 40 years of experience managing pigtail (M. nemestrina) breeding programs, maintains the only large-scale domestic breeding program for pigtail macaques, and is the main source of these important research animals for use in the United States. The Seattle facilities focus on conducting biomedical research and currently house 760 primates in support of 68 funded research projects conducted by 10 core and 20 affiliated investigators. The addition of the ARCF facility in 2017 will add capacity for an additional 344 primates, and an associated increase in the numbers of research projects DPR is able to support. Macaques (M. nemestrina, M. mulatta, and M. fascicularis) represent the predominant species with a small number of S. sciureus. Types of research supported include neuroscience, AIDS, infectious diseases (non-AIDS), immunology, transplant, reproduction and development, imaging, and pharmaceutics. Over the course of the grant period DPR will: Continue to work on 1) novel strategies for addressing the infectious diseases affecting the breeding and experimental animals at WaNPRC; 2) improving the quality, efficiency, and integration of operations in keeping with advances in the field and the needs of investigators supported by these activities; 3) expanding production of M. nemestrina colonies to meet the increasing demand and further characterization to allow for a better understanding of unique characteristics that can be utilized to create/improve disease models; 4) expanding facilities and capabilities for conducting biomedical research with a focus on areas of growth at WaNPRC, including HIV/AIDS and transplantation; and 5) performance of collaborative and independent research and training related to improving NHP models, comparative medicine, and studies performed by core staff and affiliates of the WaNPRC.
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