Oregon Primate Research Center May Shift to Sanctuary Status as OHSU Enters Negotiations With NIH
The Oregon Health & Science University board of directors unanimously passed a resolution on Monday authorizing the OHSU president to enter negotiations with NIH on transitioning the controversial Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) to a primate sanctuary.
NIH core grant support for ONPRC (award P51OD011092) has been about $12.8M to $15.2M per year in recent fiscal years.
| Issue date FY | Subtotal |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $12,815,996 |
| 2024 | $13,717,806 |
| 2023 | $13,153,537 |
| 2022 | $14,555,423 |
| 2021 | $15,153,166 |
Oregon Primate Research Center Investigates Viability Of Primate Sanctuary
The OHSU met yesterday amid funding risks faced by the Oregon Primate Research Center, as animal rights Groups push for a shutdown at a special public meeting to consider entering negotiations with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) about transitioning the center to a primate sanctuary.
NIH had approached OHSU with the potential to provide federal support for the shift.
Source: USDA annual animal usage reporting for OHSU ONPRC (reporting period Oct 1 2024 to Sept 30 2025)
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Aside from moving away from primate research, NIH may explore investing in other areas of science at OHSU, including biofabrication, gene therapy, and non-animal models.
The board indicated that negotiations would center on efforts to protect the careers of OHSU West Campus employees, protect care for the animals, and long-term investments in both the facility and its science at OHSU more generally.
In a letter to the OHSU community and the wider public, the OHSU board chair, vice chair, and president recognized that science evolves, with novel, human-based research methods, signaling a desire to reduce reliance on non-human primate studies. But transitioning to a sanctuary raises complex questions and prompts a range of perspectives.
The board’s resolution to enter into negotiations doesn’t predetermine the future of ONPRC, but it allows OHSU to engage in discussions to understand what a transition could entail and to define what the institution would need to protect and advance its mission.
Animal Rights Groups Seek Closure Of ONPRC As NIH Starts Phasing Out Animal Experiments
Animal rights activists have ramped up years-long protests and campaigns against the ONPRC in recent months, citing alleged animal welfare violations and pushing for its closure as part of a broader national effort to end primate research at major institutions.
Animal welfare activists have argued that Oregon Health & Science University should close the center.
OBP recently reported that an ad campaign opposing the center by animal welfare groups last year highlighted the deaths of monkeys and, at the same time, the National Institutes of Health is under direction to begin phasing out the use of animals in experiments.
Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) also filed a USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) complaint against OHSA after the death of monkeys at the Primate Research Center following the death of a rhesus macaque who was found dead on May 14 last year. PETA said the monkey had previously been entrapped about a year earlier.