* Houston, TX (affiliated with the University of Texas)*

Approximate number of chimpanzees: 185

Private facility that receives federal funding for chimpanzee research

History & Profile

Working exclusively on cancer research, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (M.D. Anderson) is located in Houston on the Texas Medical Center campus. It “was created by the Texas Legislature in 1941, as a component of The University of Texas System.” (1) In 1975, the Veterinary Sciences Division was established “to provide a wide range of veterinary services and develop specialized animal species to support biomedical research.” (2) In 2004 the veterinary division(located on 381 acres near Bastrop, TX) was renamed the Michale E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research (KCCMR) as a memorial to the center’s first director. (3) Although M.D. Anderson is devoted exclusively to cancer care and research, that is not the case with its affiliated animal research facility at Bastrop. In addition to chimpanzees, M.D. Anderson also has rhesus monkeys, owl monkeys, and squirrel monkeys. In total, they house over 1,500 primates. (4)

Chimpanzee Use

The Chimpanzee Biomedical Research Resource (CBRR), which includes chimpanzees from the Primate Foundation of Arizona (PFA), is maintained at the KCCMR. “The CBRR is one of only four NCRR-supported centers with the capability to conduct biomedical research in this species.” (5) The chimpanzees at M.D. Anderson are housed in “eight 4,500-square-foot outdoor corrals in multiple-male family groups. (6)

According to the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a “demographically balanced group of…physically and behaviorally healthy chimpanzees” are available at M.D. Anderson “to meet current and future research and testing needs in the United States… Chimpanzees are available to investigators funded by NIH grants and contracts.” (6)

Under an NIH grant from 2000, PFA is “a subcontractor to the M.D. Anderson grant and maintains approximately 70 chimpanzees” in its Arizona facility. (8) However in 2006, PFA announced that it would be transferring ownership of its chimpanzees to the federal government and is now sending all of its chimpanzees to the MD Anderson Cancer Center by 2010.

Research Profile

KCCMR “currently has federal and private grants and contracts totaling more than $40,865,000. These extramurally supported programs include research in cancer, hepatitis, HIV, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, vaccine development, cellular immunology, aging and behavior.” (9)

Research related to the use of chimpanzees focuses on “characterization of the immune system of the chimpanzee, expansion of our understanding of chimpanzee cardiomyopathy as a potential human disease model and comparisons of the physiologic and immunologic consequences of research manipulations on chimpanzees trained to voluntarily cooperate with research procedures versus untrained chimpanzees that must be sedated. (10) In addition, “We [CBRR] will also make available chimpanzee-derived cell lines, antibodies and other biological materials, and create a registry of biologic reagents that are known to work in the chimpanzee. (11)

Principal areas of research at KCCMR:**

• Veterinary Pathology
• Immunotherapeutic Reagents Against Ovarian Cancer
• Influence of Psychosocial Varialbes on Immune Responses and Health
• Cellular Immune Response Against Hepatitis C Virus

Financials/Grants

In November 2000, M.D. Anderson was awarded a $19.5 million grant from NIH “to support its chimpanzee biomedical research program for the next five years.” (12) It announced that the grant “continues a long history of funding from NIH for the chimpanzee program,” and noted that the veterinary department “has held a grant or contract from the Center for Research Resources of NIH since 1976.” (13) For grant U42RR015090, “Chimpanzee Biomedical Research Resource,” MD Anderson received $3,583,971 in 2008. Since 2000, they have received almost $30 million for this grant alone. (14)

For a list of grants awarded to M.D. Anderson between 2001-2008, click here.

Address

Sources

(1) http://www.mdanderson.org/About_MDA/Who_We_Are/ Wikipedia

(2) http://www.kccmr.org/ (About Us)

(3)  http://www.kccmr.org/ (About Us)

(4) http://www.kccmr.org/ (Animal Resources)

(5) http://www.kccmr.org/ (Chimpanzee Biomedical Research Resource)

(6)http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/comparative_medicine/resource_directory/primates.asp#utex

(7) http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/comparative_medicine/resource_directory/primates.asp#utex

(8) NIH Renews Grant for Bastrop Chimpanzee Facility

(9) http://www.kccmr.org/ (About Us)

(10) http://www.kccmr.org/ (Animal Resources)

(11) http://www.kccmr.org/ (Chimpanzee Biomedical Research Resource)

(12) NIH Renews Grant for Bastrop Chimpanzee Facility

(13) NIH Renews Grant for Bastrop Chimpanzee Facility

(14) http://taggs.hhs.gov/

* The veterinary lab is located in Bastrop, Texas.

** These research protocols may involve other primates in addition to chimpanzees.
Last updated: November 2009

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