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NEW IBERIA - For the most part, the stretch of Admiral Doyle Drive just off of La. 182 looks just like other major rural roads in Acadiana.
But just beyond the homes and the large offices of oil and gas companies lies a 100-acre site filled with laboratories, indoor and outdoor animal housing and hundreds of chimpanzees, monkeys and other primates - UL's New Iberia Research Center.
By no means is the facility the only one that conducts biomedical research on primates or other animals. The nonprofit Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care has given its seal of approval to more than 770 companies, universities, hospitals and other institutions that conduct such research, which often includes testing medications before human trials to determine their possible effects.
The NIRC is one of those accredited facilities.
What sets NIRC apart from other institutions is its sheer size - more than 200,000 square feet of laboratory and animal facilities, 10 different species of primates and more than 6,000 animals.
That size alone was enough for the Humane Society of the United States to launch a nine-month undercover investigation there in late 2007,
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20090308/NEWS01/903080333" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Amanda McElfresh •
amcelfresh@theadvertiser.com • March 8, 2009
<!-- the results of which were announced on Wednesday and featured in ABC's Nightline news program. The video of animal treatment there has raised dozens of questions and prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees such facilities, to announce it is launching its own investigation.
But this isn't the first time the NIRC has drawn national attention from groups on both sides of the medical research debate.
History of site
The facility got its start as the home of the Gulf South Research Institute's Life Science Division, according to a history of the NIRC provided on its Web site. At that time, most of the research was conducted on rodents, although some primates were housed at the center.
The NIRC was created in 1984, when the then-University of Southwestern Louisiana opened a primate research center there, designed as a contract support facility.
Site at center of national debate
NIRC's large research role makes it target for animal rights activists
Amanda McElfresh •
amcelfresh@theadvertiser.com • March 8, 2009
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Buzz up! NEW IBERIA - For the most part, the stretch of Admiral Doyle Drive just off of La. 182 looks just like other major rural roads in Acadiana.
But just beyond the homes and the large offices of oil and gas companies lies a 100-acre site filled with laboratories, indoor and outdoor animal housing and hundreds of chimpanzees, monkeys and other primates - UL's New Iberia Research Center.
By no means is the facility the only one that conducts biomedical research on primates or other animals. The nonprofit Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care has given its seal of approval to more than 770 companies, universities, hospitals and other institutions that conduct such research, which often includes testing medications before human trials to determine their possible effects.
The NIRC is one of those accredited facilities.
What sets NIRC apart from other institutions is its sheer size - more than 200,000 square feet of laboratory and animal facilities, 10 different species of primates and more than 6,000 animals.
That size alone was enough for the Humane Society of the United States to launch a nine-month undercover investigation there in late 2007, the results of which were announced on Wednesday and featured in ABC's Nightline news program. The video of animal treatment there has raised dozens of questions and prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees such facilities, to announce it is launching its own investigation.
But this isn't the first time the NIRC has drawn national attention from groups on both sides of the medical research debate.
History of site
The facility got its start as the home of the Gulf South Research Institute's Life Science Division, according to a history of the NIRC provided on its Web site. At that time, most of the research was conducted on rodents, although some primates were housed at the center.
The NIRC was created in 1984, when the then-University of Southwestern Louisiana opened a primate research center there, designed as a contract support facility.
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"At that time, the primary focus of the center was to provide private industry and the federal government with a reliable source of native born, quality bred non-human primates," the site reads.
A more significant expansion came in 1990, when the NIRC began evaluating pharmaceutical and biotechnology products. Since then, two new research buildings have been constructed on the site, additional living quarters have been built for the animals and the center has received millions of dollars in contracts from federal and private sources.
NIRC Director Thomas Rowell said he's been in that capacity for about the past 10 years, and overall, the NIRC has grown by about 20 to 40 percent during that time, he said. Its number of animals and research methods are what sets NIRC apart today, he said.
"I think it's the fact that we do have a number of species as animal models, plus the fact that we provide research support compliant with Good Laboratory Standards practices and procedures," he said.
Accomplishments and concerns
Rowell said the research done at NIRC has played a valuable role in developing vaccines for conditions such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis A, mumps, measles and chicken pox. In addition, its work has helped scientists better characterize and understand mad cow disease, develop anti-viral materials and therapeutic proteins and contributed to developing medicines for Crohn's disease, he said.
According to information provided by UL during a Thursday press conference, the center has five current grants and/or contracts through the National Institutes of Health totaling slightly more than $30 million.
Three of those contracts are with the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases. According to its Web site, that group works on developing vaccines and medications to treat rabies, meningitis, whooping cough, pneumonia and HIV/AIDS, among other conditions.
But while the NIRC appears to play a major role in national medical research efforts, its work and the well-being of its animals have drawn several concerns in recent years, as well as a 2005 lawsuit from former employee Narriman Fakier, who alleged she was forced to resign after reporting animal mistreatment.
Several animal-rights groups often keep tabs on the NIRC, including Stop Animal Exploitation Now. That group called on UL officials to retire 138 chimpanzees at the facility in 2005, while also asking for many of the center's records.
More recently, SAEN asked the USDA to investigate the center in late January, after alleging that internal NIRC reports showed that nine primates had died there in recent years, some from medical conditions that the group said may have gone untreated for extended periods of time.
Last week, UL officials said that both internal and external reviews indicated that SAEN's allegations were unfounded.
Responsiveness criticized
Theodora Cepaldo, president of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, said the group has kept an eye on New Iberia's center "forever" and has had trouble receiving responses from them about their concerns. Cepaldo said members of NEAVS have contacted the NIRC in the past three years about the conditions of some of its oldest chimpanzees, and sent blankets for some of the chimps at the center.
Cepaldo said that while other research facilities have responded to NEAVS inquiries, that hasn't been the case in New Iberia.
"Their history of responding to concerns from the public is abysmal," Cepaldo said. "I think what we have here is a situation in New Iberia where there is no accountability to the American public."
Rowell acknowledged that the center is often criticized for not being responsive, but says he disagrees with that assessment.
"I think we are incredibly responsive to the public through regulatory agencies such as the USDA, the FDA and the CDC, which are government agencies funded by tax dollars and who answer to the public," Rowell said.
Uncertain future
UL officials have pledged their full cooperation with the USDA investigation, which could take several weeks. The results of that inquiry will likely determine the future of the New Iberia Research Center.
At a Thursday press conference in Baton Rouge, Andrew Rowan, executive vice president of operations for the Humane Society, said the group wants federal officials to closely examine their findings and urge immediate changes to make sure the NIRC meets all federal requirements.
"That would be a start, just a start," Rowan said.
UL officials have repeatedly said the facility does meet all national guidelines and standards.
In addition, Rowan said the HSUS would like to see the more than 320 chimpanzees housed at the NIRC be permanently retired to sanctuaries.
During a Thursday press conference, Babette Fontenot, head of NIRC's behavioral science division, said the center would like to send more of its chimps to sanctuaries, but wants to make sure those places have appropriate conditions and animal care.
"There are very loose standards for what constitutes a sanctuary," Fontenot said. "We have to be careful where we place them."
The possibility exists that the USDA investigation could result in the center's closure, an action that Rowell said could have major consequences for the general public because of the kind of work that happens at NIRC.
"I think it would have serious health implications in the long run," he said.
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