# Establishment of a SPF Rhesus Macaque Colony > **NIH NIH U42** · TEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE · 2024 · $2,417,980 ## Abstract Abstract - Overall The Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC) is one of seven National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs) supported by the NIH. The SNPRC houses a Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) rhesus macaque colony of Indian origin (Ind RM), supported by the NIH SPF rhesus breeding program (U42OD010442). This colony is derived from the combination of two long-standing SPF colonies, the US Air Force (USAF) and the New England Primate Research Center (NEPRC). This colony of approximately 800 animals supports AIDS-related research both at SNPRC and through sales to AIDS investigators at other institutions. In both cases, these animals primarily support NIH-funded investigator initiated and program-level research in the areas of HIV vaccine development, cure research, pathogenesis, therapeutics development, and co-infections such as TB. In the past two years this resource has also been critical in supporting the development of NHP models of SARS-CoV-2 infection and for the subsequent testing of COVID-19 vaccines e.g., the Pfizer B2 vaccine which has been administered to hundreds of million individuals worldwide, and therapeutic approaches for COVID-19 such as the Regeneron antibody cocktail. The SNPRC resource is being used both by internal scientists who are faculty members of the host institution Texas Biomed, as well as in support of external scientists who either conduct primate research in situ at the SNPRC, acquire animals via sales, or request specific samples. There is currently a major national shortage of research nonhuman primates (NHPs), and particularly of SPF Ind RM. This has severely impacted our program-wide (all NPRCs) ability to support the national research mission of HIV/AIDS as well as in the area of non-AIDS/other infectious diseases, AIDS co-infections, malaria, TB, COVID-19, etc. The SNPRC is particularly affected due to its small colony size and recent recruitment of scientists with large programs that utilize Ind RM. The NIH has recognized this need for expansion of SPF rhesus production and strongly recommends increasing Ind RM breeding capacity. The SNPRC is well positioned to expand its SPF Ind RM production as a center located in a climate hospitable to largely outdoor housing at an institution with capacity for expansion. Texas Biomed has recently raised funds to build a large new NHP facility which could house an additional ~ 800 NHPs. Texas Biomed/SNPRC has also been funded by the NIH/ORIP via a C06 to expand our production capacity by 40% over our existing capacity. Finally, through the support of our host institution, Texas Biomed, we have procured ~ 150 conventional founder/breeder Ind RM to increase our breeding and populate the soon to be renovated/constructed buildings. As such the SNPRC Ind RM population can increase to 1600-2000 in the next decade. While some of the new animals in the SNPRC colony over the next five years will form a separate P51 colony which will not be restricted to HIV/AIDS related... ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 10794941 - **Project number:** 5U42OD010442-23 - **Recipient organization:** TEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE - **Principal Investigator:** Shannan Hall-Ursone - **Activity code:** U42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2024 - **Award amount:** $2,417,980 - **Award type:** 5 - **Project period:** 2000-09-30 → 2027-01-31 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10794941 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10794941, Establishment of a SPF Rhesus Macaque Colony (5U42OD010442-23). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10794941. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*