Category: News

As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues, safe and effective vaccines are playing a pivotal role in preventing severe disease and death and limiting the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated rapid vaccine development and testing. Fortunately, NIAID’s decades-long support and conduct of coronavirus and vaccine research laid the groundwork for helping to develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine in record speed.

COVID-19 Animal Models

Animal research plays a key role in developing successful vaccines for humans. Before promising vaccine candidates can be tested in humans, they must first be tested for safety and effectiveness in animals as required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. To do this, scientists first determine whether a vaccine candidate can stimulate an adequate and safe immune response. This important step is often conducted using small and then, potentially, larger animal models of disease. Mice are frequently used because they reproduce rapidly, have a well-characterized immune system and a defined genome. Some labs turned to mouse models of infection early in the COVID-19 pandemic only to find that mice don’t get infected with SARS-CoV-2. In order to infect cells, SARS-CoV-2 must bind to a human protein called ACE2. The human and mouse ACE2 proteins are different, and SARS-CoV-2 does not bind to mouse cells. Scientists overcame this problem by generating mice that can express the human version of ACE2 and can therefore be infected with SARS-CoV-2. When these genetically modified mice are infected by the virus, they lose weight and become sick in ways that are similar to what happens when people are infected with the virus. Mouse models provided vital information about COVID-19 symptoms and its disease course and continues to be used by researchers to understand COVID-19 disease.

Syrian hamsters are another important animal model for COVID-19 because disease in those animals closely resembles the disease in humans. Additionally, older male hamsters develop more severe disease than young female hamsters, which reflects some of the differences seen in humans infected by SARS-CoV-2. Hamster models have contributed to the evaluation of investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidates, immunotherapies, and antiviral drugs.

Vaccine development for COVID-19 also benefitted from nonhuman primate studies. In assessing immunogenicity and protection of vaccines in pre-clinical animal models, nonhuman primates provide several advantages for clinical translation. They are outbred, have greater similarity to humans than rodents in innate immune responses and B- and T-cell repertoires, and allow use of clinically-relevant vaccine doses. Recent studies in nonhuman primates show that SARS-CoV-2 targets similar replication sites and recapitulates some aspects of COVID-19 disease.  Nonhuman primates are used during the later stages of vaccine development and typically build upon the knowledge accumulated in earlier small animal studies.

Continue reading…

Finding helps explain how baseball players can connect with a 100-mph fastball and how the rest of us manage everyday tasks.

Neural circuits in the primate retina can generate the information needed to predict the path of a moving object before visual signals even leave the eye, UW Medicine researchers demonstrate in a new paper.

“The ability to predict where moving objects will go is so important for survival that it’s likely hardwired into all sighted animals,” said Michael Manookin, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He led the research team with Fred Rieke, professor of physiology and biophysics.

Manookin and his colleagues report their findings in the journal Nature Neuroscience.  Belle Liu and Arthur Hong, two UW undergraduate students, were the lead authors on the paper.

In the study, the researchers looked at how motion was processed by cellular circuits in the retina. The circuits the researchers focused on are composed of light-sensing photoreceptor cells, called cones; an intermediate layer of cells, called bipolar cells; and ganglion cells that collect signals from bipolar cells and transmit these signals out of the eye to other brain regions.

Continue reading at UW Medicine Newsroom.

 

Just like our doctors and nurses, researchers in the Pacific Northwest have also been on the frontlines working at a rapid pace to understand the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19: how it spreads, how it infects, who it infects, why it shows itself in a variety of symptoms and why it progresses in such a deadly way for some people.

Now more than 175 million Americans, and nearly 70% of eligible Oregonians, are directly benefiting from the biomedical research that developed these vaccines, bringing an end in sight to the pandemic.

Sadly, some animal rights organizations have used misinformation and fake news to disparage the biomedical research process during the past year.

Before anyone can be treated or vaccinated in America, medicines go through a lengthy process of lab research, humane animal modeling and human studies to ensure they work and are safe.

For the coronavirus vaccines this work started in libraries as researchers scoured the literature on coronaviruses and looked at decades of prior animal and human studies on vaccines. With this information in hand, researchers moved to their laboratories, where they identified ways to stimulate immunity to COVID-19.

The next step involved humane animal modeling to see if lab-developed products worked in living organisms. These animal studies typically started with mice, and if the results looked good then they proceed to working with animals like monkeys, which share more similarities with humans.

The last step involved human studies that started initially with just a few people and moved to trials that involved tens of thousands of volunteers. These studies were aimed at determining both the safety and the effectiveness of these vaccines.

We are all incredibly lucky researchers were able to develop three (with more on the way) highly effective COVID-19 vaccines in such a short time. Vaccine development work is still progressing with researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University working on the next generation of vaccines for COVID-19.

I understand how all this work created an existential crisis for animal rights groups, who oppose the use of any animals in research. But that’s no excuse to spin twisted stories about research and intimidate researchers.

Millions of Americans have directly benefited from ethical biomedical research and are now protected from severe symptoms and hospitalization due to COVID-19. Without animal studies we would not have these vaccines and we would still be in the thick of one of the worst pandemics in history.

Even worse, an animal rights supporter at a local university recently said he would prefer to have millions of people die if it meant an end to animal studies. Another anti-research activist compared animal researchers to child traffickers.

The people who are suffering the most from COVID-19 are people of color, people with underlying health conditions, people who are older and people with disabilities. These are people that seemingly some anti-research activists would throw under the bus.

I encourage people to be critical thinkers. Do your research and check facts. We live in a democracy where we can robustly debate issues. However, robust debate does not give activists the right to make up alternative facts.

Every academic research university, hospital and non-profit research institution in the Pacific Northwest has joined this fight against COVID-19. Just like the doctors and nurses on the frontlines, the hard work and dedication of these biomedical researchers saves lives and ensures we have a healthier community.

All 175 million of us who are vaccinated in America, and the many who are still protected even though they cannot get vaccinated due to underlying health conditions, should say #ThanksResearch to our local universities and research institutions who are saving lives.

Don’t buy into lies from those who bitterly reject science.

Ken Gordon is executive director of the Northwest Association of Biomedical Research.

This opinion piece also appeared in the Portland Tribune on July 02, 2021

2021 Ignition Awards Recipients:

The WaNPRC Pilot Program is conducted jointly with the Institute for Translational Health Sciences and provides funding to collect preliminary data for future funding opportunities. The goal is to fund projects with innovative research endeavors that have translational implications to move toward human applications. This year there was a competitive pool of applications and we were able to provide funding to 2 projects.

Please join us in congratulating the Grant Year 60 recipients of the WaNPRC Pilot Program which exemplify the commitment to cutting edge science, collaboration and also support the 3Rs (Reduction, Refinement and Replacement) of animal use.

• Jesse Erasmus, PhD,  (University of Washington, Fuller Lab)  “Overcoming bottlenecks in mRNA-mediated antibody expression in nonhuman primates”

Abstract: We have demonstrated protection from acute virus infection in mice receiving an intramuscular injection of RNA encoding a monoclonal antibody. While this approach holds promise for enabling rapid development of antibody therapeutics that can be administered in an outpatient setting, scaling intramuscular doses from mice to larger animals has proven difficult, failing in a nonhuman primate pilot study. We have since identified three major bottlenecks in antibody expression in vivo, 1) host translation shutdown mediated by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and plasmacytoid dendritic (pDC) cell interferon production, 2) anti-drug antibody response, and 3) limiting numbers of transfected target cells. We have developed an RNA molecule that co-expresses a modified antibody along with a cell-autonomous human ICAM-1 blocking peptide, designed to reduce ER stress and inhibit local pDC interaction with RNA-transfected cells, respectively. Given the 87% similarity between human and pigtail macaque (PTM) ICAM-1, we hypothesize that in PTMs, this will 1) reduce ER stress- and pDC-mediated interferon production and downstream host translation shutoff, and 2) reduce pDC-mediated anti-drug antibody responses. In order to increase the number of target cells, we propose to use an FDA-approved multi-needle array in order to spread an injection volume over multiple sites.

• Amy Orsborn, PhD, (UW Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and UW Department of Bioengineering, WaNPRC Core Staff): “Developing and validating a new behavioral assay to quantify feedforward and feedback”

Abstract: Our movements are controlled by a combination of predictive feedforward control and reactive feedback control. Incorporating insights from feedforward/feedback control has significantly improved therapies to restore motor function like brain-machine interfaces. However, existing methods to study motor behaviors in non-human primates (NHPs) cannot quantify and disentangle feedforward and feedback control components. This methodological gap limits our ability to study the neural mechanisms of sensorimotor control. Robust control theory methods have been used to directly quantify feedforward and feedback sensorimotor pathways in humans, but these approaches have not yet been tested in NHPs. We propose a study to develop and validate these behavioral assays in NHPs. We will develop assays for both in-cage assays that may accelerate training (aim 1) and laboratory assays for more complex, higher dimensional movements (aim 2). With expertise in both NHP behavioral training and control theory, our team is positioned to rapidly generate critical feasibility data for future grants. If successful, our proposal will provide primate neuroscientists with new tools to study the neural mechanisms of sensorimotor learning and control. Quantifying feedforward and feedback control and their neural signatures will also enable improved brain-machine interface therapies.

We wish the recipients luck in their endeavors and we look forward to hearing about their exciting results next year.

Elizabeth A. Buffalo, PhD | Interim Associate Director for Research

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The WaNPRC performs critical biomedical research leading to new advances in science and medicine. WaNPRC researchers are working to develop effective vaccines and therapies for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases as well as new advances in genetics, neuroscience, vision, and stem cell biology and therapy. The WaNPRC directly supports the National Institutes of Health’s mission to translate scientific advances into meaningful improvement in healthcare and medicine.

2020 Ignition Awards Recipients:

The WaNPRC Pilot Program is conducted jointly with the Institute for Translational Health Sciences and provides funding to collect preliminary data for future funding opportunities. The goal is to fund projects with innovative research endeavors that have translational implications to move toward human applications. This year there was a competitive pool of applications and we were able to provide funding to 2 projects.

Please join us in congratulating the Grant Year 59 recipients of the WaNPRC Pilot Program which exemplify the commitment to cutting edge science, collaboration and also support the 3Rs (Reduction, Refinement and Replacement) of animal use.

• Co-PIs Abigail Gambrill, PhD,  (University of Washington, Barria Lab) & Jon Rueckemann, PhD (University of Washington, Buffalo Lab): “Cellular mechanisms of primate hippocampal theta oscillations”

Abstract:  Hippocampal theta oscillations occur while attending to incoming stimuli and have been linked to successful memory encoding in humans. This activity is thought to reflect coordinated network processing spanning the entire hippocampus, but the cellular mechanisms supporting the rhythmicity in its microcircuits are unknown in primates. Using acute hippocampal slices, we will electrophysiologically characterize the intrinsic and resonant properties of pyramidal cells to determine how cellular physiology shapes the circuit level behavior. We will also establish how the physiology of principal cells is governed by acetylcholine, which is acutely released during attention to salient stimuli and a known modulator of theta rhythmicity. This project will establish a novel in vitro model of hippocampal microcircuit physiology in primates and will provide a necessary link between physiological studies of murines and humans. The WaNPRC and Tissue Distribution Program (TDP) are uniquely suited to support research using this novel approach, and the experiments of this project lay the foundation for future studies of pathophysiology in the hippocampal network.

• Gwendolyn Wood, PhD (UW Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases): “Optimizing a model of Mycoplasma genitalium reproductive tract infection in female pig-tailed macaques”

Abstract:  Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) is an emerging reproductive tract pathogen with a disease spectrum similar to N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis, and a prevalence ranging from 1-4% in population-based studies to more than 20% in high risk patients. Of particular concern, MG infection is associated with serious upper reproductive tract sequelae in women. Antimicrobial resistant MG is alarmingly common, with untreatable infections reported in the US. An animal model is needed to understand the mechanisms of pathogenesis of MG and devise alternative treatment and prevention strategies. Building on our previous success with a pigtailed macaque model of lower genital tract infection, we now seek funding to optimize our protocol with the goals of improving infection rates, increasing the duration of infection, observing ascension of MG to upper reproductive tract tissues, and defining the natural history of antibody induction. These studies will help fulfill two mandates set by the MG research community: development of an animal model of PID and the design of a serologic test.

We wish the recipients luck in their endeavors and we look forward to hearing about their exciting results next year.

Elizabeth A. Buffalo, PhD | Interim Associate Director for Research

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The WaNPRC performs critical biomedical research leading to new advances in science and medicine. WaNPRC researchers are working to develop effective vaccines and therapies for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases as well as new advances in genetics, neuroscience, vision, and stem cell biology and therapy. The WaNPRC directly supports the National Institutes of Health’s mission to translate scientific advances into meaningful improvement in healthcare and medicine.

2019 Ignition Awards Recipients:

The WaNPRC Pilot Program is conducted jointly with the Institute for Translational Health Sciences and provides funding to collect preliminary data for future funding opportunities. The goal is to fund projects with innovative research endeavors that have translational implications to move toward human applications. This year there was a competitive pool of applications and we were able to provide funding to 2 projects.

Please join us in congratulating the Fiscal Year 58 recipients of the WaNPRC Pilot Program which exemplify the commitment to cutting edge science, collaboration and also support the 3Rs (Reduction, Refinement and Replacement) of animal use.

• Nikolai Dembrow, PhD, (University of Washington): “Developing a primate culture platform for the treatment of degenerative disorders”
• Jonathan Ting, PhD (Allen Institute for Brain Science): “A comprehensive viral genetic toolbox optimized for primate brain cell types and translational neuroscience”

Dr. Dembrow’s project is designed to characterize the cellular properties of the pyramidal neuron subpopulation implicated in neurodegeneration and the efficacy of a novel viral tool for targeting these neurons in NHP slice cultures. This project is intended to expand upon the knowledge gained in other animal models and provide a bridge between what has been characterized in mouse models to the highly complex human cortex. Experimental platforms will be developed to further understand the neuropathology of neurodegeneration and serve as a model for evaluation of treatment efficacy. An additional goal of this proposal is to identify the specific neuronal populations in the nonhuman primate in a manner that will minimize future animal use.

Dr. Ting’s project is a collaboration with the Allen Institute that will be a significant step toward converting promising cell class-selective viral vectors to robust and well-validated viral tools optimized for both ex vivo and in vivo NHP brain studies with direct relevance to human neurological gene therapy applications. The proposal will leverage a monkey ex vivo brain slice culture platform to: (a) validate expression and cell type specificity of >100 novel AAV vectors for targeting interneuron classes, and (b) apply these viral tools to multimodal functional analysis of genetically-defined neocortical interneurons. These experiments promise to be transformative, especially given that neocortical interneuron dysfunction is strongly implicated in a wide range of human brain disorders such as schizophrenia and epilepsy.

We wish the recipients luck in their endeavors and we look forward to hearing about their exciting results next year.

Sally Thompson-Iritani | Associate Director | Division of Primate Resources

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The WaNPRC performs critical biomedical research leading to new advances in science and medicine. WaNPRC researchers are working to develop effective vaccines and therapies for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases as well as new advances in genetics, neuroscience, vision, and stem cell biology and therapy. The WaNPRC directly supports the National Institutes of Health’s mission to translate scientific advances into meaningful improvement in healthcare and medicine.

The WaNPRC Pilot Program, which is conducted jointly with the Institute for Translational Health Sciences, has been presented previously in an earlier Weekly Update.  Since that time, the awards for the Fiscal Year 57 have been made and we want to present some short summaries of these protocols, to demonstrate the type(s) of research the Pilot Program supports.  In short, the intent of the program is to support:

• Innovative, research endeavor
• An opportunity to collect preliminary data for future funding
• Support research with translational goals, moving toward human applications

“The Washington National Primate Research Center is committed to advancing the understanding of human disease by funding talented investigators,” said Dr. Michael Mustari, Director of WaNPRC. “The Pilot Project program makes a valuable contribution to our Center’s mission to serve as a national resource for innovative research. This work is necessary to advance scientific knowledge needed to cure diseases across the lifespan.”

2018 Ignition Awards Recipients:

Andrew McGuire, PhD:  “Proof of Concept for an Epstein-Barr Virus Vaccine”

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a causative agent of infectious mononucleosis and is linked with several malignancies. A vaccine preventing EBV infection would be a major public health benefit. Neutralizing antibodies are the primary correlate of protection for most vaccines, but it remains unknown if pre-existing neutralizing antibodies would protect against EBV exposure. Passive transfer of a neutralizing monoclonal antibody (Mab) prior to experimental viral challenge could answer this, but the near-obligate tropism of EBV for humans has hampered efforts to date. Rhesus lymphocryptovirus (RhLCV) is an ortholog of EBV, yet most Mabs that neutralize EBV do not cross react with RhLCV. We have isolated a potent neutralizing Mab from an EBV+ donor that blocks fusion of viral and host membranes. It cross reacts with RhLCV and similarly disrupts function. We propose to determine whether this Mab protects from experimental RhLCV infection in rhesus macaques. This will provide an important proof of concept for EBV vaccines aimed at eliciting neutralizing antibodies and will lay the groundwork for future studies.

Megan O’Connor, PhD:  “Evaluation of SIV Co-Infection on ZIKV Pathogenesis in Pigtail Macaques”

Zika virus (ZIKV) and HIV are both global health concerns and are located in overlapping endemic areas, however currently there is a severe lack of knowledge regarding the impact HIV-ZIKV co-infection may have on viral pathogenesis, effectiveness of vaccines, or ZIKV vertical transmission. Presently, no animal model exists to address these concerns, but the non-human primate (NHP) model is valuable for studying HIV and ZIKV disease. In the adult pigtail macaque (PTM) we previously identified that monocytes are the major in vivo targets of ZIKV infection. Monocytes expand during HIV infection and mediate HIV invasion into the central nervous system (CNS), therefore we reasoned that HIV infection could promote ZIKV pathogenesis and neuroinvasion. Here, using SIV-infected macaques as a model, we propose to investigate the hypothesis that enhanced ZIKV pathogenesis occurs in HIV-infected patients. We will evaluate ZIKV pathogenesis and immune dynamics in acutely SIV-infected PTMs in relation to SIV-naive/ZIKV-infected historical controls. In Aim 1 we will evaluate monocytes during acute SIV infection and their potential as ZIKV cellular targets and in Aim 2 we will determine whether SIV co-infection enhances ZIKV pathogenesis and CNS invasion. These studies will provide new insight into ZIKV pathogenesis and will establish the first animal model of HIV-ZIKV co-infection.

 

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The WaNPRC performs critical biomedical research leading to new advances in science and medicine. WaNPRC researchers are working to develop effective vaccines and therapies for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases as well as new advances in genetics, neuroscience, vision, and stem cell biology and therapy. The WaNPRC directly supports the National Institutes of Health’s mission to translate scientific advances into meaningful improvement in healthcare and medicine.

 

Dr. Randall Kyes, Core Staff Scientist at the Washington National Primate Research Center, is working closely with Gibbon Conservation Centre of Aaranyak, conducting field courses for young conservationists in Northeast India for the past seven years. His work focuses on Conservation Biology and Global Health. In this clip, Dr. Kyes speaks about his association with Aaranyak and his views on the biodiversity within the forest as well as the connection between global conservation and human health.

Paper highlights the essential role nonhuman primates play in finding treatments for serious and life-altering conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, Zika virus, HIV/AIDS and Parkinson’s disease

WASHINGTON — The Foundation for Biomedical Research (FBR) announced today the release of the white paper, The Critical Role of Nonhuman Primates in Medical Research. The white paper is a collaboration between FBR and eight premier scientific groups. The white paper highlights the essential role NHPs historically have and continue to play in finding treatments for serious and life-altering conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, Zika virus, HIV/AIDS and Parkinson’s disease.

Collaborative scientific groups include: the American Academy of Neurology, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the American Physiological Society, the American Society for Microbiology, the American Transplant Foundation, the Endocrine Society, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology and the Society for Neuroscience.

“95 percent of the lab animals in scientific and medical research are rats and mice. Just half of one percent of research is conducted with nonhuman primates. That’s a tiny number. But their impact on our health is enormous,” said FBR president Frankie Trull. “NHPs, mostly monkeys, are the link between smaller animals and people. Once a disease or drug is understood in smaller species – like rats, mice, birds, zebrafish and worms – it is often then studied in monkeys.”

“Monkeys have certain traits and characteristics that make them essential and irreplaceable in medical research. They’re the bridge to the clinic,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kordower, a neuroscientist who examines how diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s affect the brain.

Nonhuman primates (NHPs) are so similar to people genetically (up to 98 percent) that they show, unlike any other animal, how diseases work in the human body.Monkeys are more predictive than smaller species as to how a disease acts or how a treatment will work in people. Primate research has led to medical devices, treatments, advancements and cures that have saved and improved millions of lives. Research with NHPs has contributed to the following discoveries: polio vaccine, insulin for diabetes, coronary bypass surgery, hip replacements, kidney dialysis and transplants, organ transplants, organ rejection medications, medications for psychiatric illnesses, blood transfusions, chemotherapy, hepatitis B vaccine, HIV/AIDS medications, child lung transplants for cystic fibrosis, anthrax treatments, Parkinson’s disease treatments, and prostrate cancer treatments. To learn more about how research with NHPs is contributing to lifesaving cures for people, please download the white paper, The Critical Role of Nonhuman Primates in Medical Research or visit fbresearch.org.

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The Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC) performs critical biomedical research leading to new advances in science and medicine. WaNPRC researchers are working to develop effective vaccines and therapies for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases as well as new advances in genetics, neuroscience, vision, and stem cell biology and therapy.  The WaNPRC directly supports the National Institutes of Health’s mission to translate scientific advances into meaningful improvement in healthcare and medicine. Learn more at www.wanprc.org.

 

Infant Rhesus Macaques Show Normal Development after Receiving Pediatric Vaccines

SEATTLE – Correlation of childhood vaccines and autism studied at the Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC). Study shows no evidence of autism-like behavior or neuropathology in rhesus macaques after receiving typical childhood vaccinations. All animals in the study developed normally after being administered thimerosal-containing vaccines.

The data indicate that administration of thimerosal-containing vaccines such as Hepatitis B and DTap, to rhesus macaques does not result in brain or behavior abnormalities like those observed in autism spectrum disorder. The study results are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“It is of great importance to determine whether childhood vaccines that contain this preservative play a significant role in altering brain development, such as autism,” says lead investigator Laura Hewitson of The Johnson Center for Child Health and Development in Austin, Texas, and affiliate investigator with the WaNPRC.

The study provides a comprehensive analysis of the influence of thimerosal-containing vaccines on the brain and behavior in a nonhuman primate model. Virtually no negative behaviors, such as rocking, self-clasping, and repetitive behaviors were reported, regardless of vaccination status. No cell or protein changes in the cerebellum, hippocampus or amygdala were found between vaccinated and unvaccinated animals in the study.

The perceived safety of childhood vaccines has had a major impact on immunization rates – including the measles mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Concerns emerged during the 1990s about thimerosal’s potential to harm children’s brain development.

Thimerosal is a mercury-containing compound. For decades it was employed to keep vaccines free from contamination by germs and bacteria. In 2001, The Food and Drug Administration recommended that manufacturers remove thimerosal or reduce it to trace amounts in pediatric vaccines. It is still used as a preservative in flu and meningitis vaccines. The FDA determined that children receiving multiple thimerosal-containing vaccines at a young age were at risk for exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency’s safe exposure limits for methylmercury.

The study was conducted at the Washington National Primate Research Center with pregnant female rhesus macaques provided by the California National Primate Research Center

The WaNPRC performs critical biomedical research leading to new advances in science and medicine. WaNPRC researchers are working to develop effective vaccines and therapies for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases as well as new advances in genetics, neuroscience, vision, and stem cell biology and therapy. The WaNPRC directly supports the National Institutes of Health’s mission to translate scientific advances into meaningful improvement in healthcare and medicine. Learn more at www.wanprc.org.