Blog
News and perspectives on biomedical research in Oregon.
20 posts
Before The Forgetting Begins
What Monkeys Can Teach Us About Brain Changes in Dementia
New research at ONPRC shows monkeys naturally develop the same brain changes seen on human scans in aging and dementia.
Read more →When The Smoke Rolls In
What Monkeys Taught Us About Wildfire And Health
Wildfire smoke during Oregon's 2020 fires sharply raised pregnancy loss and infant respiratory illness in monkeys at ONPRC, a warning sign for human health.
Read more →The Immune System's Hidden Role In Alcohol Addiction
A New Study Shows How Alcohol Changes The Brain's Stress Center, And Why Men and Women May Be Affected Differently
New research from Oregon's primate center and Scripps finds that chronic drinking alters the brain's immune signals, and that those changes differ in men and women.
Read more →ART Imitating Life
How Assisted Reproductive Technologies Build Animal Models of Disease
How the ONPRC ART Core uses IVF and gene editing to build monkey models of diseases like Usher syndrome, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, and hepatitis B.
Read more →From Cells to Primates
Building A Pipeline For Nonhormonal Contraception
A new approach to hormone-free birth control: ONPRC researchers pair a lab-grown cervical cell model with a primate model to test new contraceptive methods.
Read more →What Counts As Animal Cruelty? Why IP28 Gets It Wrong
IP28 treats lawful, humane, regulated care as "cruelty." Here's what that would really mean for Oregon.
Oregon already prosecutes real animal cruelty. IP28 is built on a false claim, that humane, regulated care is the same thing.
Read more →Not One Veterinarian, But Three!
The Specialized Roles Protecting Animals In Research
Meet the clinical vets, research vets, and veterinary pathologists who keep animal research rigorous and humane.
Read more →From Monkeys to Medicine
How Primate Research Advances The Fight Against HIV
Learn why nonhuman primates are essential to HIV research, from understanding the hidden viral reservoir to advancing vaccines, treatments, and the search for a cure.
Read more →Minds Matter
How Research Animals Get Mental Health Care Too
This Mental Health Awareness Month, discover how behavior teams protect the psychological wellbeing of research animals, and the science behind it.
Read more →Hantavirus: An Old Threat We're Still Not Ready For
(Guest blog by an expert researcher in hantavirus immunology)
The 2026 MV Hondius outbreak has put a centuries-old virus back in the headlines, here's why hantavirus is so deadly and has no vaccine or cure.
Read more →Ebola Preparedness And The Cost of Hasty Policy Decisions
As a new Ebola outbreak forces travel restrictions, a recent federal decision raises hard questions about research capacity and public health readiness.
Read more →A New Sound of Hope
Gene Therapy for Genetic Deafness
A newly approved gene therapy, along with several others in clinical trials, is opening the door to treating otoferlin-related deafness, a form of hearing loss once considered permanent. Nonhuman primate research has been central to this progress, including ongoing work in Oregon.
Read more →Patient Advocacy Perspective
Endometriosis
Lovlin Geczy, founder of the nonprofit Sisters Helping Sisters, shares how 21 years and 16 surgeries with endometriosis have shaped her life, and why research at the Oregon National Primate Research Center gives her hope for more accessible treatments in the near future.
Read more →Big Hope for Small Things
How Nanomedicine Could Deliver New Treatments for Endometriosis
What Is Endometriosis? Endometriosis is a complex and painful disorder in which tissue similar to the endometrium (inner most layer of the uterus) forms lesions...
Read more →Understanding Malaria
A Global Threat and the Research Behind the Fight An Introduction to Malaria, Animal Research, and Oregon's Scientific Contributions
What Is Malaria? Malaria is a life-threatening infectious disease caused...
Read more →Patient Advocacy Perspective
COVID-19 Treatment
My name is Samantha, and I am alive today because of research from the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC). In 2020, I contracted COVID-19 and was placed in the ICU, sedated, and on a...
Read more →Pediatric Anesthesia
How Monkeys Helped Prevent Brain Injury in Children
Newborns and young children often require surgery to correct serious birth defects or to treat emergency injuries. These procedures cannot be done safely or ethically...
Read more →What is AAALAC International Accreditation?
Why Voluntary Accreditation Matters for Animal Welfare in Research
When it comes to the welfare of animals in research, most people are unfamiliar with the laws and regulations that govern how studies are conducted. Federal agencies like the USDA and NIH set legal...
Read more →Who's Watching Out for Research Animals?
Understanding the Role of IACUCs in Biomedical Research
The majority of research institutions are federally funded or AAALAC accredited, both of which require animal study proposals to go through a scientific review panel for approval and grant funding....
Read more →What Are the 3Rs in Animal Research?
A Deep Dive into Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement
Animals have been pivotal in the development of several major medical breakthroughs, from polio and COVID-19 to insulin and organ transplants. But how do scientists ensure ethical and humane...
Read more →