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NATIONAL PRIMATE RESEARCH CENTERS
TURN 60 Southwest National Primate Research Center is proud to be part of the success of the national network established in the 1960s.
T
he National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs), which are committed to helping people live longer, healthier lives through nonhuman primate research, are celebrating six decades of support from Congress and the National Institutes of Health in 2022.
The Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC) at Texas Biomed is the youngest of the seven NPRCs. SNPRC was officially established in 1999 to help support biomedical research across the nation with its breeding colonies. Texas Biomed was well positioned to join the network, having housed a variety of primate species for scientific research since the 1950s. Deepak Kaushal, PhD, oversees the SNPRC $20+ million-a-year operation, which encompasses about 2,500 primates and 150 staff dedicated to animal health and welfare. He works closely with the NPRC network, synergizing resources and coordinating research. “Having overlapping but varied areas of expertise, we are able to cover a larger gamut of human diseases and conditions, while being mindful not to waste precious resources,” Dr. Kaushal says. SNPRC is unique among NPRCs. It the only one hosted by a nonprofit research institute, not a university. It is the only NPRC with a biocontainment safety level 4 lab on campus. It is also the only center with three different breeding colonies: Indian rhesus and cynomolgus macaques, African baboons and New World marmosets. 28
SNPRC hosts breeding colonies of (pictured top to bottom) macaques, baboons and marmosets. It is the only NPRC with baboons, and one of only two with marmosets.
