WaNPRC Director Dr. Deborah Fuller today welcomed Dr Raimon Duran-Struuck as a core faculty member of the Washington National Primate Research Center. Dr Duran-Struuck is the Chair and a Professor in the UW Department of Comparative Medicine (DCM).
A passionate advocate for research animals, Dr Duran-Struuck says he’s inspired by the professionalism and care of people in research and the quality of our work with nonhuman primates. He says he’s “very excited” to contribute to advancing human and animal health.
“I’ve been working with NHPs for a long time, and I’ve always thought NHPs are an extremely valuable model to leverage our discoveries for safety and efficacy,” he said. “At end of the day what I tell my residents is that what we do here is to enhance discoveries. Think of a child w leukemia or a patient who depends on our discoveries. To me, that translates to being a small part of a big team that hopefully will be part of a big discovery.”
As an experienced lab animal veterinarian, researcher and instructor to medical students, Dr Duran-Struuck specializes in lab animal medicine and transplant immunology. He has published studies about immunotherapies for transplant rejection and Graft Versus Host Disease, which is a complication that can result from transplants of stem cells to treat blood disorders.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Raimon on board,” said Director Deborah Fuller. “He brings a unique and highly impactful research program in transplant immunology that will further broaden the expertise of our world-renowned Gene Therapy and Regenerative Unit. As chair of DCM, Raimon also plays a crucial role in supporting all non-NHP animal research at UW and I very much value his expertise and efforts to support our common goals.”
Dr Duran-Struuck received his BS is biochemistry from Tufts University before earning his DVM there. He received his PhD in Immunology from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. Prior to joining DCM, he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathobiology and a Director of Regulatory Affairs for University Lab Animal Resources at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to that, he held research, clinical, and teaching positions at the Transplantation Biology Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Harvard University Department of Surgery, Tufts University, and Columbia University Medical Center.