Animal Resources

The Emory National Primate Research Center conducts diverse animal-based research programs and provides specialized scientific resources, expertise and training opportunities for work with nonhuman primates (NHPs).

The center maintains a colony of more than 3,000 monkeys (macaques, mangabeys and squirrel monkeys) and 5,000 rodents (mice, rats and voles) for use in behavioral and biomedical research and breeding programs.

The Division of Animal Resources is responsible for all aspects of animal care and management, and provides both service and collaborative research support to internal and external investigators.

Joyce Cohen, VMD, DACLAM, Associate Director for Animal Resources and Attending Veterinarian, directs the animal care and use program.

The Emory Primate Center (EPC) has 12 full-time veterinarians, including the Attending Veterinarian, as well as two veterinary residents and one veterinary fellow. Residents and fellows rotate between both facilities. All veterinarians are cross-trained at both facilities and in all areas of research medicine.

Veterinarians and scientists within the division engage in a range of independent and collaborative research studies focusing on clinical care, colony management and behavioral management, as well as on infectious diseases, transplant medicine, neuroscience and genetics. The division also oversees several NHP clinical medicine intern and residency programs.

The animal care and use program is fundamental to the center's mission, day-to-day operations and animal welfare. The Division of Animal Resources, EPC Administration and Emory University's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) work closely to coordinate the care and management of animals at both EPC locations.

The groundbreaking discoveries being made at the EPC would not be possible without our dedication to the highest quality animal care and enrichment. Because of such dedication, the EPC has maintained full accreditation from the Council on Accreditation of the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC), the gold standard of laboratory animal care, since 1984.