The objective of this proposal is to support the continuing development of the Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC). The SNPRC is located on the campus of the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, its host institution. The SNPRC maintains over 6,000 nonhuman primates including baboons, rhesus macaques, cynomolgus macaques, chimpanzees, marmosets, tamarins, vervet monkeys, spider monkeys, and pigtail macaques. We maintain large breeding populations of baboons, rhesus macaques, cynomolgus macaques and marmosets. Our animal resources include the largest captive population of baboons anywhere in the world, the largest pedigreed population of any nonhuman primate species in the world, and a growing population of SPF Indian-origin rhesus macaques. During the current grant period, the SNPRC provided resources to 267 investigators from 27 states. The SNPRC is divided into five types of components: Administrative, Training and Outreach, Primate Colonies, Resource, and Resource-related Research components. These components are organized within three groups: Comparative Medicine, Virology and Immunology, and Genetics Group. Ongoing resource components include clinical and anatomic pathology; veterinary technical services; biomaterials collection and distribution; a blood, tissue and DNA repository; chimpanzee hepatitis surveillance; retrovirus diagnostics; flow cytometry; and molecular genetics services. Additional resources proposed for development include behavioral services; the nursery; a primate genomics database; array technologies; and endothelial celltechnologies. Components also are proposed to develop and enhance nonhuman primate models for research on hepatitis, tuberculosis, Chagas' Disease, nematode infection, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 444 publications