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Dr Randy Kyes Retires After 35 Years of Global Conservation, Education and Empathy

Dr. Kyes and wife Elle in Thailand in 2021.

After 35 years with the Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC) and the University of Washington, Dr. Randall (‘Randy’) Kyes, Unit Chief of the Center’s Unit of Global Programs, Research Professor in the Dept. of Psychology, adjunct in the Depts. of Global Health and Anthropology, and Director of the Center for Global Field Study, will retire at the end of December 2025. His career leaves behind a legacy of science, service, and compassion that spans continents and generations.

From the tropical forests of Indonesia to the mountains of Nepal, Kyes has devoted his entire professional life to building lasting international partnerships and training thousands of students and professionals to care for the natural world and one another.

“Everything we do to the environment affects our own health,” he said. “If we can improve environmental health, we improve human health too.” That belief was the foundation for decades of work connecting people and ecosystems across the globe.

Dr. Kyes (left) and local staff during his first year on Tinjil Island (1990) conducting a population survey of the macaques.

When asked to look back, Dr Kyes seems amazed at how it all began. In 1989, during his postdoc at Wake Forest School of Medicine, he met an Indonesian scientist, Dondin Sajuthi, who mentioned a small island where long-tailed macaques were being released to establish a breeding population. “He told me the folks at the University of Washington were looking for someone to monitor how the monkeys were doing,” Kyes recalled. “I went the next summer to conduct a population survey of the macaques, and that was it. Everything started from there.”

That was Tinjil Island, Indonesia. In 1991, Dr Kyes led his first field course there, an experience that would grow into a global model for collaborative field training. Over the next three decades, he and his longtime collaborators, both international and domestic, led 148 field courses in eight countries for nearly 2,900 participants representing 20 nations.

“Our goal was always to help local people build their own capacity to manage their environment and health,” he said. “These programs were never about us showing up to teach and then leaving.  They were about partnership and long-term collaboration.”

That philosophy extended well beyond university students. Around 2000, while working in a rural Indonesian village coping with crop-raiding monkeys, Dr. Kyes and his team met with village leaders to discuss ways to help mitigate the conflict and protect the endangered animals. “They were grateful, but they said, ‘We’re set in our ways. You should talk to our kids before they are, to help them appreciate the need to protect these monkeys?’”

He and his colleagues took that advice to heart. The following year they launched their first K-12 outreach program, combining lessons on wildlife conservation with art and health activities. Over the next 25 years, that grew into 181 outreach programs reaching more than 10,000 children across eight countries.

“One of my favorite moments came years later,” he said. “Two young women from that same village joined one of our field courses and told us they’d been third graders in our very first outreach session. Seeing that full circle, kids who grew up to become conservation students – that’s the kind of impact you hope for.”

Asked what kept him going through the endless travel, the weather, and the occasional political unrest, and he’ll point to his students. “Watching them discover the field, that spark when they realize they can do this work, is what I’ll miss the most,” he said.

The field courses, which combine research, cross-cultural exchange, and a dose of physical endurance, are intentionally small, he said. “We’re often in remote, challenging places. You learn to improvise, listen, and collaborate,” he said. “It’s not just about training and data collection.  It’s about experiencing the world first hand, while appreciating the similarities across all cultures.”

Running global programs for decades meant confronting real-world challenges. Some years were canceled due to political unrest or natural disasters. In 2015, an earthquake and landslide wiped out an entire Nepali village where Dr. Kyes and his colleagues had worked for more than a decade. “We knew those families,” he said quietly. “It was heartbreaking. But we went back. You don’t just walk away from people who’ve become part of your life.”

Those long-term connections remain what he values most. “I’ve stayed in people’s homes, watched their kids grow up,” he said. “That’s the reward, those friendships that cross borders.”

Incoming Associate Director Matthew Novak with Randy and Entang Iskandar, a student from Randy’s first field course, who has collaborated on all the field courses and who plans to continue that work.

He’s also quick to credit his wife and colleague Dr. Pensri (‘Elle’) Kyes, who has been part of the collaborative team since 2010 and became a Research Scientist with the Primate Center in 2014. She has been integral in helping run education programs and coordinate field logistics. “The outreach activities in many of our program countries wouldn’t exist without her,” he said. “She has an incredible way of connecting with communities and the children.”

Kyes’ work has always focused on empowerment. Every field course is designed and led with local partners who provide lectures, field expertise, and cultural context. That also helped create a network of alumni, many of whom now run their own training programs.

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate,” he said. “Few people get to do work that means so much to them personally and that connects them to so many others. It’s been the privilege of my life.”

Even as he retires from his formal UW roles, he hopes the programs will continue. “What I’d really love,” he said, “is to see the next generation keep this momentum going. If we’ve done our jobs right, they already are.”

  • Randy and Elle pause during a field course, 2021

By the Numbers (1990–2025):

  • 35 years with the WaNPRC
  • 148 field courses in 8 countries
  • 2,894 participants representing 20 nations
  • 181 outreach programs for 10,272 K–12 students
  • 30+ years of continuous collaboration in Indonesia
  • 20+ years of continuous collaboration in Nepal and Thailand
  • 10+ years of collaboration in Bangladesh, China, India and Mexico

Related Links:

Neuro Unit Shines at SfN

SfN logo with an image of a brainResearchers from the Washington National Primate Research Center Neuroscience Unit made a big impact at this year’s Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting, sharing 27 different scientific presentations. This large wide-ranging set of contributions shows how our teams are helping push neuroscience forward in meaningful, practical ways.

The studies covered everything from basic brain wiring to vision, learning, and new tools that can change how scientists study the brain. Here are some of the standout projects:

Why different parts of the brain learn differently
One project showed that two neighboring brain areas, one that helps control movement and one that processes touch, don’t adapt to stimulation in the same way. This suggests that future brain-based therapies, like those used after injuries or strokes, may need to be tailored to each specific region rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach.

How the brain keeps the world “steady” when your eyes jump around
Every time you move your eyes, your visual world should technically blur. But it doesn’t; your brain keeps things stable. WaNPRC scientists uncovered signals in a part of the brain involved in vision that help update this “steady view” even when the eyes move rapidly. Understanding this process can eventually help with conditions that affect visual stability.

How the brain finds objects in cluttered scenes
Researchers tested how monkeys identify animals in very challenging pictures, like those made of dots or high-contrast black-and-white shapes. They found that mid-level visual areas and the prefrontal cortex work together to pull meaningful objects out of visual noise. This offers clues about how we make sense of complicated images in the real world.

How the brain recognizes shapes even when lighting changes
Another team discovered that a key visual area continues to recognize an object’s shape even when its brightness flips from light-on-dark to dark-on-light. This means the brain stores shape information in a way that’s tied to the object itself, not the lighting—similar to how you can recognize a friend’s face whether they’re in sunlight or shadow.

What changes across layers of the brain’s “first stop” for vision
Using recordings from thousands of neurons, researchers found that the way cells respond to overlapping patterns (like stripes or textures) changes depending on their depth within the visual cortex. This gives scientists a clearer map of how early visual processing works.

A breakthrough tool for turning brain activity off with light
One exciting advance this year was a new optogenetics technique that uses red light to temporarily quiet specific brain cells—no surgery required beyond the original gene delivery. The effect lasts more than a year and works through the brain’s protective covering. This is a major step forward for long-term, minimally invasive brain research.

The first direct look at how the brain filters visual information during eye movements
Scientists identified individual pairs of connected cells between the eye and the first visual relay in the brain. They found that this connection briefly “dials down” signals right before an eye movement, then opens back up afterward—almost like a camera adjusting exposure during motion. This helps explain how the brain avoids blurry vision.

Big steps toward mapping the brain’s wiring in multiple species
Two presentations showed how barcoding technologies  – tools that label neurons with unique molecular “IDs”-are being adapted for use in monkeys and other species. These methods could make it possible to map brain wiring at a massive scale.

How the brain gets better at learning new tasks
In a long-term study, researchers found that as animals learned many different problems over time, brain cells in memory and decision-making areas started representing information in more flexible, general ways. This work helps explain how we develop “learning-to-learn” skills, being able to pick up new tasks more easily with experience.

Together, these presentations highlight just how much groundbreaking work WaNPRC researchers are contributing to the field. Their discoveries deepen our understanding of how the brain sees, learns, adapts, and connects, and they pave the way for future advances in treating human neurological conditions.

This year’s SfN meeting confirmed what we already knew: our scientists are helping shape the future of neuroscience.

Survey: People Trust Vets on Animal Research

a pigtail macaque nibbles on a snackA new national survey on public attitudes toward animal research indicates that trust, and communication based in facts, play a huge role in acceptance for the work. The survey identified veterinarians (81%) and scientists (77%) as the most trusted sources of information.

The study, conducted in part by Dr. Sally Thompson-Iritani, Assistant Vice Provost for Animal Care, Outreach & 3Rs at the University of Washington, surveyed more than 2,000 adults across the United States.  Responses showed that public acceptance of animal research is strongly influenced by information and context. Researchers found that when participants were assured of humane care and ethical oversight, their support increased significantly: 71% supported research benefiting humans under those conditions.

The survey also shows that informed communication shifts opinion. Acceptability of laboratory animal research rose from 44% to 55% after participants were exposed to messages highlighting ethical oversight and mutual benefits for humans and animals. Furthermore, specific to our work at the Washington National Primate Research Center, 55% of respondents found research involving monkeys to be acceptable.

At the WaNPRC, our veterinarians, researchers, and staff support fostering informed public engagement around the scientific and ethical dimensions of primate research.

Read the report in the American Journal of Veterinary Research.

Committed to Care at Every Step

Transporting nonhuman primates between facilities is a complex, tightly regulated process that prioritizes animal welfare, safety, and legal compliance at every step. Each shipment involves extensive coordination among veterinarians, animal care teams, and logistics specialists, following detailed standard operating procedures that govern everything from health screening to the chopping of fruits and vegetables packed for the journey. 

Despite taking every possible precaution, a complex operation like animal transport carries inherent risks. We were deeply saddened by the tragic incident involving animals originating from the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center (TNBRC),when a transport vehicle operated by an independent transport company overturned in Mississippi..  We also acknowledge that local authorities faced an extraordinarily difficult situation and acted as they believed necessary to protect public safety. Still, the outcome represents a heartbreaking loss of animal life and the scientific advances the animals supported.  It reminds all of us who work in animal research of the emotional weight of our responsibilities.  

We recognize the compassion, professionalism, and grief of our colleagues who experienced this loss, and we share their sorrow. To our Tulane colleages: We know that this tragic loss of life may be a burden you carry for some time, and we honor your ongoing commitment to the animals in your care now.    

New Leader for Global Programs Named

Central Oregon Community College photo Dr Novak speaks with a student.
Photo Courtesy: Central Oregon Community College

Washington National Primate Research Center Director, Dr. Deborah Fuller today welcomed Dr. Matthew Novak as the new Associate Director of Global Conservation, Education and Outreach.  He will be replacing Dr. Randall Kyes, who is retiring from the post at the end of this year. 

Dr. Novak is currently a professor of psychology at Central Oregon Community College (COCC). His connections with WaNPRC and the University of Washington go back to the 1990s when he was a student. He was one of the first two American students to participate in Kyes’ Indonesian Field Study Program. He has since returned several times as a guest instructor. 

“Matthew will be able to step into the role with a deep appreciation for the strong foundation of global outreach and education in nonhuman primates that Dr. Kyes established,” said Director Fuller.  “He has an exciting new vision for expanding the Unit to include new outreach domestically, and we are changing the name of the Unit to Global Programs to reflect this vision.  We are fortunate to have him join our team and I’m looking forward to seeing where he takes the unit next.”

As teaching professor in the UW Department of Comparative Medicine’s (DCM), Dr Novak will also provide training in the Laboratory Animal Medicine Residency Program. “We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Matt Novak to the Department of Comparative Medicine,” said Chair Dr. Raimon Duran-Struuck.  “His expertise will also significantly strengthen our Global Health program, enhancing our interdisciplinary efforts and global collaborations.”

In addition to his PhD in Developmental Psychology, Novak is the past president of the American Society of Primatologists and has published on primate topics such as the late-life health impacts of early-life adversity, and studied the impacts of environmental changes on primates in Indonesia. 

“The conservation, education and outreach efforts performed and organized by Dr. Randy Kyes over the last 3 plus decades is some of the absolute best work in these areas that has ever been done,” Dr. Novak said.  “The importance of his bottom-up approach to building long-term relationships to support the work of the center cannot be emphasized enough.  Therefore, I am humbled and honored to be chosen as the next person to lead this effort, on behalf of the primate center.  Thank you, Randy, for setting the stage for this next chapter!  And to those who know him, you are aware I have impossibly large shoes to fill. I hope everyone will join me and the rest of us in the Global Programs Unit, as we work together to continue his great legacy.” 

Novak will continue teaching at COCC until wrapping up this semester. He will simultaneously work with Dr. Kyes to onboard until taking on the role full-time in December.

NAM-Specific Study to Map Immune System

The Washington National Primate Research Center has announced its first Ignition award specifically aimed at supporting a New Approach Methodology (NAM) in a study. WaNPRC has long supported a 3Rs approach to reduce, refine and replace animal models, this award specifically names NAMs.

The Veterinary Medicine & Science Convergence and NAM Award has been awarded to Dr Kristina Adams Waldorf’s proposal: “In Silico Prediction of Immune Response Through Creation of a Single-Cell RNA-Seq Atlas of Pigtail Macaque Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells.” Dr Adams Waldorf is the Associate Director for Research at WaNPRC and a core scientist in the Infectious Disease and Translational Medicine unit.

This project will create the first detailed “map” of the immune system in pigtail macaques at WaNPRC. Using cutting-edge technology called single-cell RNA sequencing, researchers will look at thousands of individual immune cells. They’ll catalog what types of immune cells exist, how they function, and how male, female, and fetal macaques may differ. The end result will be a “Pigtail Macaque Immune Reference Atlas.” A resource that can be compared to similar atlases already created for rhesus macaques and humans.

This atlas will be a powerful NAMs resource because it will:

  • Enable computer-based predictions of how pigtail macaques respond to infections and vaccines.
  • Reduce animal use by allowing scientists to model immune responses using existing data instead of collecting new samples.
  • Refine animal studies by identifying when pigtail macaques are the best model, and when other models or computer simulations may be more accurate.

This project will help researchers make better predictions about how diseases and vaccines affect humans, while reducing the number of animals needed in future experiments.

“This study represents an important step forward in combining traditional primate research with modern computational tools that improve both science and animal welfare,” said Dr Adams Waldorf.

The funding opportunity was announced in mid-2025 and also supports collaborative studies between veterinarians and primary investigators. WaNPRC anticipates funding up to four awards per year and applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. Here is the form for applications.

Director Fuller: Viruses Don’t See Borders

An ai-generated image of a vaccine being administered.Vaccines access is becoming a national checkerboard of availability, with wide gaps between where they’re available and where they’re not.

Among the problems this patchwork creates: Parents say they can’t find a COVID vaccine without driving two hours. They say their doctor’s offices aren’t ordering the vaccine because the CDC isn’t recommending it for children under 18.

But, as WaNPRC Director Deborah Fuller told Healthcare Dive, “Viruses don’t see borders.”

“If you have an outbreak somewhere, it’s a problem for everyone, everywhere,” she said.

That may lead to discrepancies in health outcomes that depend on the politics of your zipcode, not science.

Read more on what health care providers and scientists say that means for our nation’s future.

Director Warns: Don’t Sideline mRNA

WaNPRC Director, Dr Deborah Fuller is out with a new piece in The Conversation pointing out that misinformation about mRNA vaccine science is driving poor federal policy decisions that she says could slow innovation, weaken pandemic readiness, and ultimately cost lives.
Her piece lands on the same day Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy testified before the Senate finance Committee. He faced questions from the Senate on a sudden shakeup at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as recent HHS cuts of more than $500M to 22 research contracts on mRNA vaccine technology in favor of older “whole-virus” technology.
“As a vaccinologist who has studied and developed vaccines for over 35 years, I see that the science behind mRNA vaccine technology is being widely misstated. This incorrect information is shaping long-term health policy in the U.S. – which makes it urgent to control the record,” she wrote.
Her piece lays out evidence countering misinformation that mRNA vaccines are unsafe, that their side effects cause health problems, and that mRNA vaccines create Covid-resistance or cause new variants.
She compares ditching mRNA for whole-virus vaccine technology is a public health gamble, that will be slower, harder, and at a higher cost in preventable disease and lives.
Read her whole piece in The Conversation.

Proposed Federal Cuts to Animal Testing Spur Scientific Debate

green background with "STAT" lettered across the front.The NIH and FDA efforts to shift away from animal testing, promoting “new approach methodologies” (NAMs) like AI, organoids, and organ-on-a-chip systems are not finding unanimous support in the scientific community. The goal is to improve research efficiency, lower costs, and reduce harm to animals. While some scientists support the move as overdue, others warn that NAMs can’t yet replace animal models in many areas, like cancer and radiation research. Experts are also concerned about the speed of implementation and the risk of compromising scientific rigor. The shift comes amid broader federal cuts to basic science funding, raising doubts about how far these changes can be effectively realized.

You can read the entire article in STAT News here.

“The reason we have made all the progress and have such amazing science that we do today is in large part thanks to the animal models,” Sally Thompson-Iritani, Assistant Vice Provost of animal care at the University of Washington, told STAT.

“The NIH decided to put this name on it, ‘new approach methodologies,’ but they’re not new. We’ve been doing this for decades, constantly working in parallel,” Deborah Fuller, Director of the Washington National Primate Research Center at the University of Washington, told STAT.

Study: Electrical Brain Stimulation Reduces Damage from Stroke

A new study led by researchers at the Washington National Primate Research Center shows that applying electrical stimulation to the brain within an hour of stroke onset may significantly reduce brain damage. The findings, published July 21, 2025, in Nature Communications, advance stroke intervention research and suggest a potential new path for early treatment in humans.

The study was led by Azadeh Yazdan-Shahmorad PhD, and PhD student Jasmine Zhou of the Neural Engineering and Rehabilitation Laboratory at the University of Washington with an assist from Karam Khateeb, another PhD student tin the same lab. They used a nonhuman primate (NHP) model to test whether electrical stimulation in the sensorimotor cortex could reduce the spread of injury after ischemic stroke, the most common type, making up some 70% of strokes.  They applied a form of brain stimulation called theta burst stimulation—a rapid, rhythmic pattern designed to influence neural activity—directly adjacent to the damaged area. This intervention was done one hour after the onset of the stroke.

The electrical stimulation showed smaller lesion volumes compared to those that did not. In some cases, the damaged area was reduced by nearly half. The researchers also observed reduced inflammation and cellular stress markers in stimulated brains, suggesting the stimulation helped suppress harmful processes triggered by the stroke.

Previous research into brain stimulation for stroke recovery has mostly focused on chronic treatment, administered long after the stroke occurs. The use of stimulation within hours of stroke onset has remained largely unexplored due to longstanding beliefs that doing so would concerns about further injuring brain tissue. This study is one of the first to demonstrate in primates that early stimulation may instead provide a protective effect.

“The neuroprotective effects of electrical stimulation observed in this study hold promise not only for significantly improving acute stroke management – by reducing functional deficits and enhancing the chances of recovery in stroke survivors – but also for opening new avenues for therapeutic applications in other types of nervous system injury, including spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury,” Dr Yazdan-Shahmorad said.

The results offer encouraging evidence for possible clinical applications. However, the authors emphasize that more research is needed before this approach can be considered safe or effective in human patients. You can read the study in Nature Communications, published on July 21, 2025.