The Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC) is one of the seven NIH-supported national primate resources in the country. Since its inception as an NPRC in 1999, the SNPRC has been a productive member of the NPRC consortium and has supported research nation-wide. Currently the SNPRC supports the research of 50+ core and affiliate faculty scientists with a >$ 130 million foot-print of the currently funded grants, most of which are through the NIH. These include multiple R01 grants, as well as programmatic initiatives (P01, U19, UH3 etc.). The central mission of the SNPRC is to improve the health of our global community through innovative biomedical research and to serve as a national resource for biomedical research involving nonhuman primates. The SNPRC achieves this mission by providing nonhuman primates for animal research, scientific expertise, and specialized facilities and equipment to investigators doing groundbreaking research. To effectively maintain a research-oriented nonhuman primate colony of this magnitude, a strong presence of veterinary diagnostic resources including clinicians, pathologists, medical technologists, veterinary technicians, and a well- equipped diagnostic core laboratory is required. The anatomic and clinical pathology core laboratories at SNPRC are therefore integral to the central mission of SNPRC. Through the analyses of body fluids, tissues (histopathology), and molecular pathology techniques such as immunohistochemistry, in-situ hybridization, and stereology, pathology core labs facilitate better understanding of disease pathogenesis and provide novel insights into the mechanistic details of the disease progression. The instrumentation central for the daily functioning of the Pathology Unit are however, extremely old, outdated and not supported by the manufacturer?s for software, updates and support. In order to meet the high-volume load, short turnaround time, and complicated demands of a large research colony of approximately 3,000 nonhuman primates, access to cutting edge equipment is absolutely critical. The clinical pathology laboratory utilizes an 11 yr old Beckman UniCel DxC 600 fully automated blood chemistry analyzer. This workhorse accounts for about 75% of the clinical pathology procedures per year. In has reached the end of its serviceable lifespan. Similarly, the automated slide stainer and the coverslipper are considered to be the workhorse for the anatomic pathology lab. However, both are extremely outdated and at the end of the life. This application seeks to outfit the Pathology Unit of the SNPRC with a new chemistry analyzer, a new slide stainer and coverslipper, as well as seeks to purchase a state-of-the-art whole slide scanner, which will provide significant upgrade to the research capabilities supported by the SNPRC.
As one of the seven national primate resources the SNPRC supports critical research in the areas of human and animal health. With its nearly 3000 animal colonies, the Pathology Unit is critical. Most of the instrumentation employed by this unit for mission critical activities is extremely old, outdated and end-of-life. This application seeks support for the overhaul of some of these instruments and capabilities.
