The University of Louisiana at New Iberia Primate Research Story

[NewsCopy]

May 27, 2004

Construction will begin within a month on an expansion of UL’s New Iberia Research Center, opening the door for more research and jobs, the center’s director said.

The center is home to nearly 6,000 primates used in medical research by pharmaceutical companies and the National Institutes of Health, a government consortium of institutes specializing in particular fields of study.

The 50,000-square-foot expansion, which will cost nearly $9 million, is required to keep up with the center’s research demands and federal regulations on cage space, said Thomas Rowell, the center’s director. The lack of cage space has slowed the center’s growth for the last 1 1/2 years and forced the center to turn away research.

Pharmaceutical companies hire the research center to house and maintain animals vital to research during the developmental stages of drug manufacturing. Ten years may be needed to develop a new drug and get it approved for human trials, Rowell said.

With the expansion, Rowell expects that between 50 and 100 new employees will be needed, some in specialized fields such as medical technology and veterinary science.

John Robbins of Beyt, Robbins Inc. of New Iberia is the project architect. The firm specializes in medical facilities. Contractor M.D. Descant Inc. of Bunkie won the contract for the expansion, Robbins said.

The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

UL denies animal abuse allegations

USDA confirms investigation of New Iberia Research Center

The University of Louisiana at New Iberia Research Center is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for possible violations of the Animal Welfare Act, a USDA spokesman confirmed Monday.

Darby Holladay of the USDA would not confirm that the investigation stemmed from allegations made by a former employee, but a lawsuit filed earlier this month by Narriman Fakier alleges she was fired for blowing the whistle on animal cruelty and violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

The lawsuit, filed against the state, Board of Supervisors of the UL System and UL, claims wrongful termination, retaliatory discharge, violation of First Amendment rights and violation of Whistleblower statutes.

Allegations listed in Fakier's lawsuit tell of monkeys who died of cold exposure and animals being abused at the center, which houses about 6,000 primates for medical research by pharmaceutical companies and the National Institutes of Health. The center also has about 400 chimpanzees used for medical research.

The university denies the allegations, said Ray Authement, UL president.

"We've been very diligent in pursuing complaints and having them investigated when reported," Authement said Monday.

Authement said he isn't aware of any other alleged violations against the center.

"We've had some things in terms of sizes of cages to respond to, but I know of no serious violation that was reported or not taken care of," he said. "This is a model center for the United States, and we're very proud of the way it was run."

The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is investigating the research center, said Holladay, but he could offer few details about the pending investigation.

"There is an open investigation of possible violations of the Animal Welfare Act," Holladay said.

The act prohibits animals being anesthetized in groups, a practice Fakier alleges.

"The AWA stipulates that every licensee has to have at least an annual unannounced inspection," he said.

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Marsha Sills
msills@theadvertiser.com

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Plans to build a national chimpanzee research observatory at the University of Louisiana's farm in Cade is moving closer to reality.

At today's University of Louisiana System meeting, UL officials will ask for approval to build the first phase of the project - Tanzania House - a nearly $500,000 facility for the study of human-raised chimpanzees. The project has been planned for at least five years.

Tanzania House will be the location for the study of human-raised chimps by UL's Cognitive Evolution Group, headed by researcher Daniel Povinelli. Povinelli was unavailable for comment.

Researchers aren't interested in the chimps' rearing environment, but "the nature-nurture aspect" of how the chimps have been raised, said Conni Castille, a research associate and study director for the UL's Center for Child Studies.

Povinelli's research group has followed the cognitive growth and interactions of chimpanzees that have been raised together since their birth on the grounds of the New Iberia Research Center. Povinelli's research group is separate from the NIRC which houses and breeds primates for drug research.

The Tanzania House and future observatory will be located on about 20 acres of UL's farm in Cade.

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Marsha Sills
msills@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

New Iberia -- The state Board of Ethics is investigating a complaint that a supervisor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's primate research lab retaliated against an employee who reported alleged violations of federal animal care standards. The board is "exploring" allegations that Johnny Hardcastle, head of Animal Resources at UL's New Iberia Research Center, may have violated the state ethics code by subjecting former center employee Narriman Fakier "to acts of reprisal," according to a letter sent by the Ethics Board to an attorney representing the university. An Ethics Board attorney declined to discuss details of the case, but Fakier filed a lawsuit against the university in February alleging that she was forced to resign in early 2004 after complaining of mistreatment of animals at the center. Steven Dupuis, who is representing ULL and Hardcastle in the matter, said the ethics complaint is "going to be hotly contested." The letter states that the board has already conducted a preliminary investigation of the complaint in September and has ordered a public hearing. A public employee found to have violated the Code of Governmental Ethics can face a fine, suspension, demotion or termination. No hearing date has been set. Primates at the New Iberia Research Center are used in pharmaceutical and medical testing. Fakier, who worked for two years as a coordinator and animal facility manager at the center, said in the lawsuit that her repeated complaints of alleged violations of animal care guidelines were not acted upon. Fakier alleged that center Director Thomas Rowell told her that her "concerns would not be addressed by NIRC, and, if she had a problem with that, she should quit." The rest of the story By RICHARD BURGESS rburgess@theadvocate.com Acadiana bureau

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Daniel Povinelli, director of the Cognitive Evolution Group, is thrilled about the project his team is working on right now: The National Chimpanzee Observatory. When finished, it will be the first large-scale center dedicated to researching chimpanzee behavior with five groups of about 15 primates. Although funding is still being sought, the planned facility would not only be a center for research, but also an educational tool that would allow the public to see the chimpanzees in a natural environment. Povinelli has been doing research with chimpanzees for more than 15 years. In 1991, he created the CEG. It is affiliated with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is located next to the New Iberia Research Center near Acadiana Airport. CEG is working with 10 to 15 chimpanzees trying to find out their self and social awareness. Another field of research is their stages of development. By comparing these stages to human development, the experiments help researchers understand child development and disorders like autism. The basic question Povinelli tries to answer is: What makes us human? The rest of the story by CARLo ANGeRER the daily Iberian

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A group of Lafayette residents hopes to attract to South Louisiana a national ape observatory and behavioral science research facility that will help sustain the chimpanzee population, draw world-class scientists and boost tourism. The National Great Ape Preservation Foundation, chaired by Gerald Breaux, executive director of the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Center, was formed as a nonprofit corporation Feb. 27. The foundation envisions construction of a National Chimpanzee Observatory and Great Ape Zoological Gardens in South Louisiana, where up to 300 world-class scientists could use the apes for behavioral studies related to human problems such as autism and Alzheimer's. The research is not expected to involve invasive, medical or pharmaceutical research. The facility would provide a home for up to 250 great apes -which could include chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas - in a 200-acre natural habitat with observation towers for tourists and educational opportunities for students. UL professor Daniel Povinelli, a Louisiana native and Yale University graduate, is a top researcher on chimpanzees and human cognitive development. He is director of the National Chimpanzee Observatory National Project, a group of scientists hoping that the first of three such facilities nationwide will be built in Louisiana. The rest of the story Claire Taylor ctaylor@theadvertiser.com

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  Researchers have carried out the largest study of differences between human and chimpanzee genomes, identifying regions that have been duplicated or lost during evolution of the two lineages. The study, published in Genome Research, is the first to compare many human and chimpanzee genomes in the same fashion.

The team show that particular types of genes - such as those involved in the inflammatory response and in control of cell proliferation - are more commonly involved in gain or loss. They also provide new evidence for a gene that has been associated with susceptibility to infection by HIV.

"This is the first study of this scale, comparing directly the genomes of many humans and chimpanzees," says Dr Richard Redon, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a leading author of the study. "By looking at only one 'reference' sequence for human or chimpanzee, as has been done previously, it is not possible to tell which differences occur only among individual chimpanzees or humans and which are differences between the two species.

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[CajunFun]

ABC's Nightline has picked up the NIRC story. Someone (allegedly) smuggled a camera in, and took some disturbing footage.

One caveat: there's no proof (yet) that the videos are indeed of the NIRC. When highly offensive video came out years ago about hunting seal pups, it was strongly believed at the time that the animal activists actually paid the hunters to produce horrific videos.

Let's all keep an open mind, see what comes out of this.

[DrumRoll]

_ ABC's Nightline has picked up the NIRC story.

Please pardon my ignorance, but what is the NIRC and what is the "story"?

[NOCajun]

Please pardon my ignorance, but what is the NIRC and what is the "story"?

Ditteaux!
igeaux.mobi

[ULtimateCajun]

Yeah I think NIRC is New Iberia Research Center (?) a UL affiliated research facility where of course they do research on monkey's. I haven't heard anything about any videos or anything. Please enlighten.

[CajunFun]

_ Yeah I think NIRC is New Iberia Research Center (?) a UL affiliated research facility where of course they do research on monkey's. I haven't heard anything about any videos or anything. Please enlighten. _

The link is up on ultoday...