Building on the Future.....

The Tulane Regional Primate Research Center was established in November 1964 and is the largest of seven such facilities in the United States. It is devoted to medical and biologic research in which nonhuman primates play an important role.

The Center's research focus is on infectious diseases caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites. The staff includes scientists and veterinarians having scientific expertise in bacteriology, molecular biology, virology, parasitology, immunology, urology, primate medicine, pathology, reproductive physiology, biomedical engineering, and medical entomology.

Research Interests include:

• Transmission of HIV infection from the mother to the fetus; development of an AIDS vaccine;
• Drug therapy for AIDS;
• Vaccines for Lyme Disease;
• Gene therapy trials in primates;
• Drug treatment for malaria.

Research Accomplishments include, but are not limited to:

• Development of a monkey model for the study of kidney infections;
• Development of a monkey model for human leprosy;
• Discovery of the biochemical causes of certain human genetic diseases;
• Development of a rhesus monkey model of Lyme Disease.