Vervet Research Colony as a Biomedical Resource

Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem NC

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY This application is a competing renewal of the "Vervet Research Colony as a Biomedical Resource" (VRC, P40-OD010965). The VRC is the only NIH-funded biomedical research resource for US-born vervet/African green monkeys (AGM; Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus or Chlorocebus sabaeus) and has been continuously funded since 2005. The VRC serves a wide range of local, regional and national investigators by providing animals, biological samples, data, consultation and training pertaining to the use of vervets/AGMs as multi- categorical, translational models of human disease. The VRC has facilitated critical translational research across a wide variety of disciplines, including: a) the development of the vervet as an emerging nonhuman primate model of aging and Alzheimer's disease risk with a focus on the assessment of physical function, amyloid burden, neurodegenerative disease biomarkers, and synaptic degeneration; b) investigations into the efficacy and enhancement of vaccines for infectious diseases such as neonatal influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, dengue fever, and COVID-19; c) studies focused on the etiology and health consequences of diabetes, metabolic disease and obesity; d) the development of novel, non-invasive biomedical imaging methodologies; and e) the expansion of the critical genetic resources available for vervets. The aims of the VRC resource are to: 1) provide the scientific community with access to animals, biological samples, data and expertise to facilitate the use of vervets for a wide-range of biomedical research; 2) to provide exceptional training opportunities for veterinarians and researchers interested in using vervets for translational research, and to serve as a platform for community and scientific outreach to foster better understanding of the use of nonhuman primates in biomedical research; and 3) to enhance the resource by engaging in applied research focused on continuing phenotypic and genetic characterization, and the development of the vervet as a translational model in novel research areas. The VRC has served as a critical component of the Wake Forest Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), which helps facilitate the utilization of the VRC resource across the larger CTSA network. The VRC can take full advantage of a wide-range of existing research facilities within the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, including multi-modal imaging capabilities, veterinary and pathology expertise, and genetic and analytic resources.