The Emory National Primate Research Center (formerly known as Yerkes National Primate Research Center)[1] located in Atlanta, Georgia, owned by Emory University,[2] is a center of biomedical and behavioral research, is dedicated to improving human and animal health, and is the oldest of seven National Primate Research Centers partially funded by the National Institutes of Health. It is known for its nationally and internationally recognized biomedical and behavioral studies with nonhuman primates by Emory University.

Its 25-acre (10 ha) Main Station contains most of the center's biomedical research laboratories. The center also includes the Living Links Center and the 117-acre (47 ha) Field Station near Lawrenceville, Georgia.

History

The center was established in 1930 by Robert Yerkes, in Orange Park, Florida, associated then with Yale University. Yerkes was a pioneering primatologist who specialized in comparative psychology.

In 1965, it relocated to its location on the campus of Emory University.[3]

In April 2022, Emory University removed Yerkes’ name from the center, after a review by Emory's Committee on Naming Honors recommended that the name be changed due to Yerkes' past support for eugenics.[4] The Yerkes National Primate Research Center will be known as the Emory National Primate Research Center, effective June 1, 2022.[5][6]

Satellite locations

The Field Station is a part of the Emory National Primate Research Center, houses 3,400 animals, specializes in behavioral studies of primate social groups, and is located 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Atlanta[7] on 117 acres (47 ha) of wooded land.

The Living Links Center is a part of the Emory National Primate Research Center and is run by primatologist Frans De Waal.[8] Located at the center's Main Station on the Emory campus, work is also carried out at the Field Station.

Research

Multidisciplinary medical research at the research center is primarily aimed at development of medical treatments and vaccines. Research programs include cognitive development and decline, childhood visual defects, organ transplantation, the behavioral effects of hormone replacement therapy and social behaviors of primates.[9] Researchers also are leading programs to better understand the aging process, pioneer organ transplant procedures and provide safer drugs to organ transplant recipients, determine the behavioral effects of hormone replacement therapy, prevent early onset vision disorders and shed light on human behavioral evolution.[9][10] Researchers have had success creating transgenic rhesus macaque monkeys with Huntington's disease and hope to breed a second generation of macaques with the genetic disorder.[11]

Controversy and incidents

The center has long been the target of protest for its treatment of animals. This was especially true after the release of Frederick Wiseman's 1974 film Primate,[12][13] which was shot at the research center and depicted primates undergoing surgical procedures, as well as a transcardial perfusion and brain extraction.

The center's proposal to do AIDS-related research on endangered sooty mangabey monkeys drew opposition from numerous primatologists, including Jane Goodall.[14]

Emory National Primate Research Center research assistant Elizabeth Griffin[15][16] became the first work-related death in the center's history on December 10, 1997, due to herpes B virus.[17] Griffin apparently became infected after a fluid exposure to the eye which occurred while helping to move a caged rhesus macaque at the Field Station. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ultimately fined the center $105,300 in 1998 after a 19-week investigation.[18] The event led to reforms in safety protocols for handling research primates.

On June 15, 2011, at the Field Station, personnel determined that Ep13, a non-infected female rhesus macaque, was missing.[19][20] On August 16, 2011, the search for Ep13 ended.

In December 2014, a macaque was found dead in an enclosure adjacent to the one in which she was supposed to be housed. Staff at the facility failed to notice that the macaque was not in the correct enclosure.[21]

In January 2015, a macaque was euthanized after being in distress for at least two weeks. A necropsy revealed that the macaque was in distress because staff had applied a rubber band to the animal during application of an identification tattoo, but had failed to remove the rubber band.[22]

In December 2015, a male macaque was euthanized after being sick from surgery a week prior. A necropsy revealed that the macaque was sick as a result of a piece of gauze being left in his abdomen during surgery, which causing adhesions and intestinal obstruction.[23]

In July 2017, a primate was mistakenly euthanized after a technician mistakenly entered the wrong code into the euthanization schedule.[24]

In August 2017, a primate had to be given surgery after a gauze sponge was left in its abdomen from a different surgery a week prior.[24]

In August 2021, a female macaque died after her leg got caught in a gap in the wall of her housing facility. An investigation determined that the housing facility was not constructed properly.[25]

In October 2021, the USDA reported that the center had not properly cleaned food waste from several macaque housing enclosures. It was reported that food waste had not been cleaned up for three to four weeks. In some cases, the accumulation of food waste prevented drainage of rainwater, attracted flies, and started to accumulate mold.[25]

Directors

Name FromTo
Robert Yerkes
(Founder of Yerkes Center; PhD Harvard;
known for work in comparative psychology)		 19301941
Karl Lashley
(PhD Johns Hopkins University in genetics;
psychologist and behaviorist;
remembered for his contributions to the study of learning and memory)		 19411955
Henry Wieghorst Nissen[26][27]
(Professor of Psychobiology at Yale & Emory;
leading authority on the biology and psychology of primates)		 19551958
Arthur J. Riopelle[28]
(doctorate in experimental psychology, primatologist)		 19591962
Geoffrey H. Bourne
(University of Oxford DSc and PhD;
histochemistry and cell biology, primatology)		 19621978
Frederick (Fred) A. King[29][30]
(main focus was the interaction between cognitive and limbic functions)		 19781994
Thomas R. Insel[31]
(now director of National Institute of Mental Health)		 19941999
Thomas P Gordon[32]
(became Head, Neuroscience Center)		 19992002
Stuart Zola[33][34]
(one of the nation's leading neuroscientists)		 20022014
R. Paul Johnson, M.D.[35]
(former chairman of Division of Immunology and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School;
Board Certified in Internal Medicine with a Certification in Infectious Diseases;
research interests include identification of immune responses)		 2014 present

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Emory naming honors" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-04-21. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  2. ↑ "History - Emory National Primate Research Center". yerkes.emory.edu. Emory University. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "Yerkes -- Home". www.yerkes.emory.edu. Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2005-03-09.
  4. ↑ "Naming Decisions". Archived from the original on 2022-04-21. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
  5. ↑ Diamond, Laura (April 21, 2022). "Emory to rename campus spaces and professorships honoring Robert Yerkes and L.Q.C. Lamar". Emory University (Press release). Atlanta GA. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  6. ↑ Moody, Josh (April 25, 2022). "Emory Drops Names of Eugenicist and Slavery Defender". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  7. ↑ Google. "2409 Collins Hill Rd, Lawrenceville, GA" (Map). Google Maps. Google.
  8. ↑ "Living Links | Home". www.emory.edu. Archived from the original on 2022-05-17. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
  9. 1 2 "Research". yerkes.emory.edu. Emory University. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  10. ↑ "Human Nature and Evolution". yerkes.emory.edu. Emory University. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  11. ↑ Palmer, Jason (27 May 2009). "Glowing monkeys 'to aid research". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  12. ↑ Primate (1974) at IMDb
  13. ↑ "Zipporah Films Primate". zipporah.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  14. ↑ "Goodall opposes AIDS research on monkeys: Primate expert urges government to reject use of endangered animals". Associated Press. 22 June 2006. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  15. ↑ "Welcome ergriffinresearch.org - BlueHost.com". www.ergriffinresearch.org. Archived from the original on 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
  16. ↑ Bragg, Rick (14 December 1997). "A Drop of Virus From a Monkey Kills a Researcher in 6 Weeks". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  17. ↑ "Yerkes 'family' pulled together after death of young researcher from rare Herpes B infection". www.emory.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-05-29. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
  18. ↑ "Emory Report". Archived from the original on 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2011-12-22. 1998/May/ermay.4/5_4_98Yerkes.html
  19. ↑ "Yerkes -- Yerkes Statements Regarding the Missing Monkey". www.yerkes.emory.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-01-06. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
  20. ↑ http://www.ajc%5B%5D. com/news/calls-come-in-about-985776.html
  21. ↑ Williams, Michelle (22 September 2015). "USDA Inspection Report 267151340550842". USDA. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  22. ↑ Williams, Michelle (22 September 2015). "USDA Inspection Report 271152147510798". USDA. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  23. ↑ Williams, Michelle (10 May 2016). "USDA Inspection Report 2016082567939755". USDA. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  24. 1 2 Navarro, Luis (6 September 2017). "USDA Inspection Report 2016082568772619". USDA. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  25. 1 2 Mayard, Stephanie (20 September 2021). "USDA Inspection Report 2016090000731031". USDA. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  26. ↑ "Portraits of Pioneer in Psychology Volume III" by Donald A. Dewsbury
  27. ↑ "HENRY WIEGHORST NISSEN" (PDF). nasonline.org. National Academy of Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  28. ↑ Mason, W. A. (2013). "Arthur J. Riopelle (1920-2012)". The American Psychologist. 68 (5): 399. doi:10.1037/a0033064. PMID 23895611.
  29. ↑ "A Plea For the Chimps". The New York Times. 1987-06-21. Archived from the original on 2023-03-01. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  30. ↑ "Frederick King, PhD" (PDF). whsc.emory.edu. Emory University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  31. ↑ "Thomas R. Insel reflects on his first year as director of the primate research center". Emory Magazine. 1995. Archived from the original on 2007-12-28. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  32. ↑ "Insel leaves his post to head neuroscience center". www.emory.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-10-15. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  33. ↑ "Stuart Zola Brings Passion and Candor to his Role as Director of the Emory National Primate Research Center". Emory Magazine. 1995. Archived from the original on 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  34. ↑ "Stuart Zola, PhD". yerkes.emory.edu. Emory University. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  35. ↑ "R. Paul Johnson, MD, Director". yerkes.emory.edu. Emory University. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  • Emory.edu - Yerkes National Primate Research Center (official homepage)
  • EmoryLies.com - 'Supporting Excellence in Research', Primate Freedom Project

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