The Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC) is a federally-funded biomedical research facility located on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington. The WaNPRC is one of seven National Primate Research Centers established by the National Institutes of Health in the 1960s The Washington primate center opened in 1961 and as of 2020, housed over 900 primates. The center is affiliated with the University of Washington Schools of Medicine, Public Health, affiliated research centers and the University of Washington Medical Center. It employs over 150 scientists and staff.
Administration The Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Center on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington serves as the headquarters for the WaNPRC. The current director of the WaNPRC is Dr. Michele A. Basso, Professor in Biostructure and Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. In addition to leading the center, Dr. Basso is also a neuroscientist who conducts research seeking fundamental mechanisms underlying neurological diseases with a special interest in Parkinson's disease and dystonia.
Research Facilities and Staff In addition to its facilities on the University of Washington's Seattle campus, the WaNPRC leases facilities in the South Lake Union and Belltown neighborhoods of Seattle. Research at the center is conducted by a group of core staff scientists many of whom are also University of Washington faculty members. Core scientists at the center represent a variety of university departments. These include bioengineering, biological structure, electrical engineering, global health, immunology, laboratory medicine, medical genetics, microbiology, obstetrics & gynecology, oncology, pathology, pharmaceutics, physiology & biophysics, and psychology. Over 400 affiliate scientists also conduct research at the center. Collectively, these individuals conduct biomedical research in a wide variety of areas including:
Neuroscience Infectious diseases including, HIV/AIDS, SARS CoV-2, Zika, malaria and influenza research Reproductive science and women's health Genomics, gene therapy and regenerative medicine Immunogenetics Primate conservation The psychological well-being needs of nonhuman primates housed in captivity
Breeding colonies
The WaNPRC breeds monkeys in their Seattle facility and maintains an off-site breeding colony near Mesa, Arizona. This “specific pathogen free” breeding colony of pigtail macaques was established in 2013. This is an Indoor/outdoor facility housing compound with support facilities located on 21 acres of Tribal Land belonging to the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community. From 1966 through 1996, UW operated a Primate Field Station in Medical Lake, WA, in a former maximum-security prison building at Eastern State Hospital.
Oversight, Events, Issues and Responses Animal studies at the center are regulated by a variety of agencies and organizations. The WaNPRC is inspected at least annually by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Studies are covered by regulations required by the National Institutes of Health and the primate center is accredited by AAALAC international, a private, nonprofit organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals in science through voluntary accreditation and assessment programs. The primate center also self-reports to the NIH Office of Animal Laboratory Welfare when unexpected incidents that impact animals occur. Below is a list of incidents at the center, including incidents that led to animal deaths, along with responses by the USDA (citations, fines) and university responses.
1990s Between 1990 and 1995, approximately eighteen primates died from dehydration at the center's facility in Medical Lake, WA. According to a news story in the Seattle Times, between 1990 and 1994, death rates of animals from non-experimental causes at the Medical Lake breeding facility were twice the rate from simple aging. According to that same article, at one point one working veterinarian was responsible for the care of 1,500 primates. In 1996 the Medical Lake station closed. Primates living at the facility were moved to Louisiana, Oregon, and Seattle.
2000s In 2008, a public records request by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals revealed researchers had performed 41 surgeries on a group of 14 monkeys that were not previously approved. In 2010, The Seattle Times reported that a primate had starved to death in UW's facility in 2009. The incident resulted in a USDA fine of $10,893. In the same article, the Seattle Times reported “the UW has spent millions to upgrade animal-care facilities and is now fully accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care.”
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