The objective of this proposal is to establish the Southwest Regional Primate Research Center. This new Center will be located on the 397-acre campus of the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR). It will be staffed by Core Scientists, Core Veterinarians, and Affiliate Scientists based at SFBR and the nearby University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. SFBR will assign to the Primate Center, for its exclusive use, all baboons that it owns (currently 3,230), all chimpanzees that it owns or manages (currently 242), and all other nonhuman primates that it owns (currently 163). It also will assign to the exclusive use of the Primate Center 188,654 square feet (gross) of space for animals, procedure rooms, offices, and laboratories, as well as a chimpanzee playground (9,000 square feet) and two 6-acre corrals for baboons. The Center will serve investigators located primarily in the southwestern United States, and will provide an unparalleled combination of nonhuman primate resources, as well as specialized scientific resources, capabilities, and facilities for the support of collaborative research activities. Unique animal resources will include the largest baboon breeding colony in the world, the largest and deepest pedigrees ever established for a nonhuman primate species, a nonhuman primate model of familial hypercholesterolemia for gene therapy research, and a pedigreed geriatric baboon colony for research on aging. Primate Center scientists and veterinarians will be organized into four working groups: Laboratory Animal Medicine, Physiology and Medicine, Virology and Immunology, and Genetics. Each group proposes service components, model and technology development components, and pilot studies. Research foci at the Center will include nonhuman primate diseases and well-being, nonhuman primate models of the physiology and treatment of noninfectious human diseases, the mechanisms involved in infectious diseases and strategies for preventing and treating them, and the genetics of susceptibility to chronic and infectious diseases. Research programs in these areas will be strengthened by recruitment of Core Scientists with expertise in gene therapy, reproductive endocrinology, neuroendocrinology, aging, and emerging resistance to antibiotics. A comprehensive training and outreach program is proposed to serve the research community, students and postdoctoral fellows, and the public.
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