Squirrel Monkey Breeding and Research Resource

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PROJECT SUMMARY: OVERALL COMPONENT This application is a competing renewal of the “Squirrel Monkey Breeding and Research Resource” (SMBRR) P40 OD010938 which has received continuous NIH grant support since 1980. The SMBRR is the only national research resource of squirrel monkeys available to NIH grantees, intramural research programs of federal agencies including the FDA, NSF, and the NIH, and other sponsors of biomedical research (private foundations, pharmaceutical companies, and contract research organizations). Because Bolivian squirrel monkeys are no longer available from source countries, and there are no other breeding colonies of pedigreed squirrel monkeys available for biomedical research, the SMBRR is a unique research resource that cannot be duplicated or replaced. The scarcity of squirrel monkeys, difficulties associated with captive breeding, as well as the challenges associated with their care and use in research, all contribute to the need for this national research resource. The SMBRR has integrated multiple disciplines into a program designed to meet the needs of investigators who utilize its resources. In the upcoming years, the SMBRR will continue to improve the resources it provides and continue to add new information about the biology and research value of squirrel monkeys. Squirrel monkeys continue to be an important animal model in neuroscience research, drug addiction research, malaria vaccine research, and fundamental evolutionary biology. Over the next five years, the SMBRR will focus on refining the animals and related resources to meet the needs of the scientific community. The aims of the Resource Core Component address our continued commitment to meeting the needs of the research community for access to squirrel monkeys and information about using squirrel monkeys in research. We will explore the causes of perinatal mortality in a retrospective epidemiology study. We will produce a long read genome sequence from a Saimiri boliviensis boliviensis and extend our BioBank to include specific DNA sources from the resource. The Applied Component research projects focus on basic research projects that will enhance biomedical models using squirrel monkeys. These studies include defining and characterizing the different classes of monocytes in squirrel monkeys, as well as characterizing the gut microbiome in differing age classifications of animals. We will also begin to test memory in our adult and geriatric squirrel monkey populations using computer assisted learning methods. The overall goals of the SMBRR are to provide a national research resource of squirrel monkeys; provide squirrel monkey derived biological materials; provide education and training opportunities to scientists wishing to work with squirrel monkeys, colony managers, and animal caregivers; and provide investigators with facilities and expertise to conduct studies using squirrel monkeys.