Yerkes Breaks Ground on New Clinical Veterinary Medicine Administration and Research Building
Media contacts: Emily Rios, 404-727-7732, erios@emory.edu
Lisa Newbern, 404-727-7709, lisa.newbern@emory.edu The Yerkes National Primate Research Center broke ground on the Clinical Veterinary Medicine Administration and Research Building (CVMAR) at its Lawrenceville field station April 5. Despite the rainy weather, more than 100 people attended the ceremony. The CVMAR will be the cornerstone for new programs that will use social colonies of genetically typed nonhuman primates to help researchers understand the interaction between genetics and environment and the roles they play in human health and disease. Additionally, local area students in a new county-sponsored Science and Technology High School will have the unique opportunity of carrying out their senior honors theses under the mentorship of Yerkes researchers using the cutting-edge genetics and behavioral labs in the CVMAR. For more than seven decades, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, has been dedicated to conducting essential basic science and translational research to advance scientific understanding and to improve the health and well-being of humans and nonhuman primates. Today, the center, as one of only eight National Institutes of Health–funded national primate research centers, provides leadership, training and resources to foster scientific creativity, collaboration and discoveries. Yerkes-based research is grounded in scientific integrity, expert knowledge, respect for colleagues, an open exchange of ideas and compassionate, quality animal care. Within the fields of microbiology and immunology, neuroscience, psychobiology and sensory-motor systems, the center’s research programs are seeking ways to: develop vaccines for infectious and noninfectious diseases, such as AIDS and Alzheimer’s disease; treat cocaine addiction; interpret brain activity through imaging; increase understanding of progressive illnesses such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s; unlock the secrets of memory; determine behavioral effects of hormone replacement therapy; address vision disorders; and advance knowledge about the evolutionary links between biology and behavior. |