Tulane National Primate Center (TNPRC)
The Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC) sits on 500 acres of wooded land divided among four
contiguous pieces of property in St. Tammany Parish on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain in south
Louisiana. The Center is located about 35 miles from the city of New Orleans. The TNPRC is administratively
part of the Tulane University Health Sciences Center, along with the Schools of Medicine and Public Health &
Tropical Medicine (SPHTM) in New Orleans. The faculty and staff at the TNPRC are divided into several
Divisions including Bacteriology & Parasitology, Collaborative Research, Comparative Pathology, Gene
Therapy, Immunology, Microbiology and Veterinary Medicine. Drs
The mission of the TNPRC is to improve human and animal health through basic and applied biomedical
research. The TNPRC conducts basic and applied biomedical research for human health problems using
nonhuman primate models; investigates nonhuman primate biology and diseases with particular regard to the
study of human health problems; serves as both a regional and national resource and center of excellence for
biomedical research using nonhuman primates; provides training for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows,
veterinarians, undergraduates, veterinary students, and visiting scientists; and educates the general public
about the critical link between basic research with animal models and improvements in human health.
The institutional resources at the TNPRC include laboratory equipment in support of research in human and
animal disease. After Hurricane Katrina, Tulane University SPHTM arranged with the TNPRC to house 20°-80°
freezers to store backup samples and valuable research materials for long-term storage.
Additionally, the TNPRC has two Access Grids that allow for communication with all other locations with
Access Grids at Tulane. This communication enhancement is important for reducing travel time and costs
between the TNPRC and downtown or uptown campuses. The TNPRC received software and hardware to
provide basic GIS and mapping for their projects.