# Caribbean Primate Research Center Program

> **NIH NIH P40** · UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO MED SCIENCES · 2024 · $2,434,892

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT:
The major goal of this application is to improve and maintain the Caribbean Primate Research Center's (CPRC)
unique research resources through support of operations, administration, veterinary care and research. The
CPRC consists of four integrated facilities: (1) Cayo Santiago Biological Field Station (CSBFS), the most valuable
of the CPRC research resources that holds a colony of free-ranging rhesus brought from India to Cayo Santiago
(CS) in 1938.; (2) the Sabana Seca Field Station (SSFS), the CPRC's headquarters located 10 miles outside of San
Juan that houses rhesus monkeys derived from Cayo Santiago colony in various outdoor configurations for
biomedical and behavioral studies that are not feasible on free-ranging animals; (3) the Laboratory of Virology
and Genetics (LVG), located on the Medical Sciences Campus (MSC), in San Juan which support several research
initiatives using rhesus monkeys as a model; and (4) the Laboratory of Primate Morphology (LPM), which is also
located on the MSC, and houses the CPRC skeletal collections, unique assemblages of nonhuman primate
skeletons for genetic, developmental, pathological and anatomical research. As described in this proposal, CPRC
is organized into four complementary and integrated divisions: Primate Resources, Virology and Genetics,
Behavior and Neurosciences, and Primate Morphology. In 2020, the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic added
an additional stress to the already tenuous NHP supply by increasing the demand around the world. As a result,
the National Primate Research Centers (NPRC), with the support of NIH/ORIPs, launched an initiative to
establish the NHP Strategic Reserve (NSR). The CPRC served as a pioneer in support of the NSR in several ways.
First, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CPRC was able to immediately supply animals to aid COVID-
19 research in the continental US, resulting in numerous high-impact publications. Additionally, in collaboration
with ORIP, underscoring the value of the NIH/ORIP-funded resources, and as a step in the NSR development,
the CPRC proactively engaged in agreements with some NPRCs and supplied high quality animals to expand
their breeding population, as well as to increase their genetic diversity.
Funds are requested in this application to maintain CPRC basic infrastructure of Primate Resources, which are
used to support numerous research projects locally, national and internationally. This grant will also allow CPRC
to continue supporting the Translational Science Initiative (TSI) under the Applied Research Component. A
major strength of this TSI is conducting multidisciplinary collaborative studies to establish and validate NHP
models for preclinical translational projects related to different human diseases.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10619161
- **Project number:** 2P40OD012217-37
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO MED SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Armando Gil Burgos-Rodriguez
- **Activity code:** P40 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $2,434,892
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1987-04-15 → 2028-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10619161

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10619161, Caribbean Primate Research Center Program (2P40OD012217-37). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10619161. Licensed CC0.

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