The Emory National Primate Research Center (formerly known as Yerkes National Primate Research Center) located in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, owned by

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

, 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 The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

. It is known for its nationally and internationally recognized biomedical and behavioral studies with nonhuman primates by Emory University. Its Main Station contains most of the center's biomedical research laboratories. The center also includes the Living Links Center and the Field Station near

Lawrenceville, Georgia Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately northeast of downtown. It was incorporated on December 15, 1821. As of the 2020 census, the populatio ...

History

The center was established in 1930 by

Robert Yerkes Robert Mearns Yerkes (; May 26, 1876 – February 3, 1956) was an American psychologist, ethologist, eugenicist and primatologist best known for his work in intelligence testing and in the field of comparative psychology. Yerkes was a pionee ...

, in

Orange Park, Florida Orange Park is a town in Clay County, Florida, United States. As a suburb of Jacksonville in neighboring Duval County, it is formally a part of the Jacksonville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,089 at the 2020 cen ...

, associated then with

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Yerkes was a pioneering primatologist who specialized in

comparative psychology Comparative psychology is the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals, especially as these relate to the phylogenetic history, adaptive significance, and development of behavior. The phrase comparative psycholog ...

. In 1965, it relocated to its location on the campus of Emory University. 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 Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

. The Yerkes National Primate Research Center is now known as the Emory National Primate Research Center, effective June 1, 2022.

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 northeast of Atlanta on of wooded land. The Living Links Center is a part of the Emory National Primate Research Center and was formerly run by primatologist

Frans De Waal Franciscus Bernardus Maria de Waal (29 October 1948 – 14 March 2024) was a Dutch-American primatologist and ethologist. He was the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Primate Behavior in the Department of Psychology at Emory University in ...

. Located at the center's Main Station on the Emory campus, work is also carried out at the Field Station.

Research

Multidisciplinary An academic discipline or academic field is a subdivision of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined (in part) and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, ...

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of ...

at the research center is primarily aimed at development of

medical treatments Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and

vaccines A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. A vaccine typically contains an ag ...

. Research programs include

cognitive development Cognitive development is a field of study in neuroscience and psychology focusing on a child's development in terms of information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skill, language learning, and other aspects of the developed adult bra ...

and decline, childhood

visual The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to detect and process light). The system detects, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to construct an image and buil ...

defects,

organ transplant Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ (anatomy), organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or org ...

ation, the

behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions of Individual, individuals, organisms, systems or Artificial intelligence, artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or or ...

al effects of

hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of cell signaling, signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs or tissues by complex biological processes to regulate physio ...

replacement therapy and

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

s of primates. Researchers are also leading programs to better understand the aging process, pioneer

procedures and provide safer drugs to organ transplant recipients, determine the behavioral effects of

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. Effects of menopause can include symptoms such ...

, prevent early onset vision disorders and shed light on human behavioral evolution. Researchers have had success creating transgenic rhesus macaque monkeys with

Huntington's disease Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that is mostly Genetic disorder#Autosomal dominant, inherited. It typically presents as a triad of progressive psychiatric, cognitive, and ...

and hope to breed a second generation of macaques with the genetic disorder.

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 Frederick Wiseman (born January 1, 1930) is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and theater director. His work is primarily about exploring American institutions. In 2017, ''The New York Times'' called him "one of the most important and origina ...

's 1974 film ''Primate'', which was shot at the research center and depicted primates undergoing surgical procedures, as well as a transcardial

perfusion Perfusion is the passage of fluid through the circulatory system or lymphatic system to an organ (anatomy), organ or a tissue (biology), tissue, usually referring to the delivery of blood to a capillary bed in tissue. Perfusion may also refer t ...

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 Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English zoologist, Primatology, primatologist and Anthropology, anthropologist. She is considered the world's foremo ...

. Emory National Primate Research Center research assistant Elizabeth Griffin became the first work-related death in the center's history on December 10, 1997, due to herpes B virus. Griffin apparently became infected after a fluid exposure to the eye which occurred while helping to move a caged

rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or g ...

at the Field Station. The

Occupational Safety and Health Administration The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA; ) is a regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. The United States Congress established ...

ultimately fined the center $105,300 in 1998 after a 19-week investigation. 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. 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. 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. 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 caused adhesions and intestinal obstruction. In July 2017, a primate was mistakenly euthanized after a technician mistakenly entered the wrong code into the euthanization schedule. 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. 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. 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.

Directors

Notes

External links

Emory.edu
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center (official homepage) :

- 'The Capuchin Library'

- 'World Laboratory Animal Liberation Week (around April 24)...a national week of protests, media events, etc. at laboratories to stop testing and research on animals'
IDAusa.org (pdf)
- 'Experiments Conducted on

Macaque The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and Europe (in Gibraltar). Macaques are principally f ...

Monkeys: Psychological Torment, Behavioral Research, Effects of Nonmaternal restraint on vocalizations of infant

rhesus monkey The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or g ...

s (Macaca Mulata)', T. Jovanovich, H. Gouzoues, In Defence of Animals Report: Yerkes Institute
PrimateFreedom.com
- 'Life in a Laboratory', Primate Freedom Project :
EmoryLies.com
- 'Supporting Excellence in Research', Primate Freedom Project {{Authority control Emory University Medical research institutes in the United States Scientific organizations established in 1930 Primate research centers Research institutes in Georgia (state) 1930 establishments in Florida Medical and health organizations based in Florida Biological research institutes in the United States