This application is a competing renewal of the Vervet Research Colony as a Biomedical Resource (VRC, P40-OD010965). The VRC is the only NIH-funded biomedical research resource for US-born vervet/African green monkeys (AGM; Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus) and has been continuously funded since 2005. The VRC serves a wide range of local, regional and national investigators by providing animals, biological samples, data, consultation and training pertaining to the use of vervets/AGMs as multi-categorical, translational models of human disease. Since the previous renewal, the VRC has provided resources to over 100 investigators, including over 250 animals and over 1,500 biological samples, as well as data and consultation. The VRC has also provided the necessary infrastructure and technical expertise enabling the on-site use of over 600 animals across 30 different studies. The VRC has facilitated critical translational research across a wide variety of disciplines, including: a) the development of the vervet as an emerging nonhuman primate model of Alzheimer's disease risk with a focus on the assessment of amyloid burden, neurodegenerative disease biomarkers, and synaptic degeneration; b) investigations into the efficacy and enhancement of vaccines for infectious diseases such as neonatal influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and dengue fever; c) studies focused on the etiology and health consequences of diabetes, metabolic disease and obesity; d) the development of novel, non-invasive biomedical imaging methodologies; and e) the expansion of the critical genetic resources available for vervets, including the sequencing of the vervet genome.
The aims of the VRC resource are to: 1) provide the scientific community with access to animals, biological samples, data and expertise to facilitate the use of vervets for a wide-range of biomedical research; 2) to provide exceptional training opportunities for veterinarians and researchers interested in using vervets for translational research, and to serve as a platform for community and scientific outreach to foster better understanding of the use of nonhuman primates in biomedical research; and 3) to enhance the resource by engaging in applied research focused on continuing genetic and phenotypic characterization of vervets across the lifespan and evaluation of the vervet as a potential translational model in novel research areas. The VRC is a critical component of the Wake Forest Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), which provides administrative support and facilitates the utilization of the VRC resource across the larger CTSA network. The VRC is able to take full advantage of a wide-range of existing research facilities within the Wake Forest School of Medicine, including multi-modal imaging capabilities, veterinary and pathology expertise, and genetic and analytic resources.
The vervet/African green monkey (AGM) is a valuable nonhuman primate model for studies of aging and Alzheimer's disease, cardiometabolic disorders, infectious disease and vaccine development, neuroscience, and genetics. The Vervet Research Colony (VRC) is the only NIH-supported biomedical research resource dedicated to providing animals, biological samples, and data, as well as training and consultation on the use of vervets/AGMs for translational research. Continued genetic and phenotypic characterization of the vervet, along with the maintenance and expansion of the VRC data archive and biological sample repository are all critical for meeting the needs of the scientific community.
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