Wake Forest Primate Research Center

To advance human health through cutting edge multidisciplinary, collaborative, translational research in nonhuman primates.

   
• Focus on engagement of translational teams to pursue program-level collaborative research opportunities 
• Leverage existing nonhuman primate (NHP) research expertise and resources to advance and expand innovative translational research 
• Align with institutional research priorities including Aging, Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes and Obesity, Alzheimer’s Disease, Neurosciences, Substance Misuse Research, Infectious Disease, and Regenerative Medicine 
• Provide incentives (pilot funding and project development support) for collaborative, translational engagement by Center members 
• Provide leadership and guidance for stewardship of institutional NHP resources 
• Facilitate the acquisition of additional high-end equipment and facilities 
• Conduct training in basic and translational NHP research
 

Goal 1: Establish a multi-disciplinary translational NHP Research Center to provide leadership and productive collaboration both intramurally within the Advocate/AWFBH ALHC framework and more broadly with the greater research community.

Goal 2: Engage and support the development of translational multidisciplinary teams to pursue program-level funding opportunities in a goal-oriented manner to address questions of high relevance to our human patient population. To this end, we will:

• Establish focused translational working groups
• Provide pilot funding for novel collaborative research projects
• Support and develop our ongoing training and outreach programs

Goal 3: Optimize stewardship and return on investment for strategic institutional NHP resources including:

• Unique animal populations including the Vervet Research Colony and the Radiation Late Effects Cohort
• Key facilities including the PRIMIR Preclinical Imaging and Irradiation facility and the Clarkson Campus BSL-3 Biocontainment Facility
• Institutional and extramurally-supported NHP biorepositories
• NHP datasets (genomic, imaging, experimental, veterinary clinical, and pathology data)

FY26 CDMRP Funding Opportunities

New Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) funding opportunities are now available through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).
Cost caps for all FY26 CDMRP funding opportunities are total costs (direct plus indirect costs).

FY26 program announcements released:

The Alzheimer’s Research Program (AZRP) released program announcements for the following funding opportunities:

• Transforming Care Award
• Transforming Diagnosis Award
• Transforming Research Award

To view the AZRP funding opportunity announcements and submit a pre-application, visit here.

The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program (ALSRP) released program announcements for the following funding opportunities:

• Therapeutic Idea Award
• Therapeutic Development Award
• Clinical Outcomes and Biomarkers Award
• Pilot Clinical Trial Award

To view the ALSRP funding opportunity announcements and submit a pre-application, visit here.

The Arthritis Research Program (ATRP) released program announcements for the following funding opportunities:

• (New for FY26) Translational Research Award
• Clinical Research Award

To view the ATRP funding opportunity announcements and submit a pre-application, visit here.

The Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) released program announcements for the following funding opportunities:

• Breakthrough Award- Funding Levels 1 and 2
• Breakthrough Award- Funding Level 3
• Breakthrough Award Funding Level 4
• Clinical Research Extension Award
• Era of Hope Scholar Award
• Transformative Breast Cancer Consortium Award
• Transformative Breast Cancer Consortium Development Award

To view the BCRP funding opportunity announcements and submit a pre-application, visit here.

The Ovarian Cancer Research Program (OCRP) released program announcements for the following funding opportunities:
·       

• Clinical Trial Award
• Investigator-Initiated Research Award
• Ovarian Cancer Academy – Early-Career Investigator Award
• Ovarian Cancer Clinical Trial Academy – Early Career Investigator Award
• Pilot Award

To view the OCRP funding opportunity announcements and submit a pre-application, visit here. 

The Pancreatic Cancer Research Program (PCARP) released program announcements for the following funding opportunities:

• Focused Pilot Award
• Idea Development Award
• Translational Research Partnership Award

To view the PCARP funding opportunity announcements and submit a pre-application, visit here. 

The Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP) released program announcements for the following funding opportunities:

• Investigator-Initiated Research Award
• Translational Research Award
• Clinical Translation Research Award
• Clinical Trial Award

To view the SCIRP funding opportunity announcements and submit a pre-application, visit here.

- CDMRP ASUDRP-Funded Pharmacotherapies for Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders Alliance (PASA) Research Funding Opportunities. 

The PASA’s goal is to fund studies that explore integrated approaches to address ASUD, especially comorbid ASUD with PTSD and other mental health conditions and reduce the number of opioid and other substance use-related deaths through multidisciplinary, team-based research efforts that translate knowledge into enhanced clinical pharmacological treatment protocols and enhanced quality of life for Service Members, Veterans, and the American public. Studies of military and Veteran populations are encouraged. These medications will ideally address the comorbidity between ASUDs and PTSD, TBI or other mental health conditions, as these comorbidities are common in the military and Veteran populations. Commercialization linked to U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for these new medications or combinations of medications is critical so early linkages to pharmaceutical companies are considered strengths of any application for PASA funding

PASA Funding Opportunities

Content updated in May 2026.

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- Abusheikha AJ, Johnson CSC, Snyder-Mackler N, Zimmerman KD, Frye BM, Shively CA, Register TC. Mediterranean Versus Western Diet Effects on Obesity Phenotypes and Adipose Tissue Transcriptional Profiles in Female Monkeys. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2026 Mar;34(3):641-651. doi: 10.1002/oby.70121. PMID: 41640108; PMCID: PMC12933220.

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- Key Planas DA, Nazli S, Riojas AM, Reyes AC, Jadhav A, Zimmerman K, Cox LA, Olivier M. Identification of putative kidney-derived proteins in plasma using nanoparticle enrichment. Mol Omics. 2026 Mar 6;22(2):aaiag008. doi: 10.1093/molecular-omics/aaiag008. PMID: 41697016; PMCID: PMC13017961.

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- Johnson BJ, Lipford ME, Barcus RA, Schaaf GW, Andrews RN, Kim J, Olson JD, Deycmar S, Reed CA, Whitlow CT, Cline JM. Total-body Irradiation Reduces Cerebrovascular Reactivity in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta). Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2026 Feb 12:S0360-3016(26)00376-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2026.01.043. PMID: 41690557.

- Gonzalez-Rodriguez Y, Walmer RW, Krainiak S, Carter K, Kavanagh K, Johnson K, Cilvik SN. Comparison of Laser Doppler Flowmetry With Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound to Approximate Placental Microvascular Blood Flow in the African Green Monkey (Chloroneb’s aethiops sabaeus). J Med Primatol. 2026 Feb;55(1):e70059. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmp.70059. PMID: 41607020; PMCID: PMC12852978.

- Prete JN, Epperly PM, Cronin EA, Floge AP, Czoty PW. Patterns of chronic ethanol drinking in male and female cynomolgus monkeys. Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2026 Feb;50(2):e70254. doi: 10.1111/acer.70254. PMID: 41731324; PMCID: PMC12929704.

- Ruetten HM, Abdolmaleki AS, Atala A, Williams JK, Cline JM. Intravascular Adenomyosis in a Cynomolgus Macaque (Macaca Fascicularis). J Med Primatol. 2026 Feb;55(1):e70058. doi: 10.1111/jmp.70058. PMID: 41498227; PMCID: PMC13067258.

- Page CL, Holbrook BC, Miller LD, Grayson JM, Alexander-Miller MA. TLR5 versus TLR7/8 agonist-dependent modulation of the early gene expression response to inactivated influenza virus vaccine in newborn nonhuman primates. Vaccine. 2026 Feb 27;74:128163. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.128163. PMID: 41529533; PMCID: PMC12989814.

- Cilvik, S.N.; Sullivan, M.N.; Hobbs, T.R.; Castro, J.N.; Wessel, B.M.; Harrison, H.F.; Roberts, V.H.J. Application of Chorionic Villus Sampling to Longitudinal Studies in Pregnant Non-Human Primate Models. Animals 2026, Jan 16, 374. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16030374

- Bhoopal B, Frye BM, Miller M, Bansode A, Gollapelli KK, Barcus RA, Lockhart SN, Damuka N, Sutphen CL, Fitzgerald RW, Kim J, Baxter MG, Jorgensen MJ, Craft S, Register TC, Whitlow CT, Shively CA, Solingapuram Sai KK. PET imaging utility of a novel Aβ-tracking PET radiotracer, [¹⁸F]FC119S in aged vervet monkeys. J Transl Med. 2026 Jan 8;24(1):42. doi: 10.1186/s12967-025-07642-5. PMID: 41501910; PMCID: PMC12784507.

Hatch K, Murphy EK, Olson JD, Cole RN, O'Meally RN, Ingersoll RG, Perl DP, Schaaf GW, Cline JM, Iacono D. γ-Radiation Induces Long-Term Dose-Related Proteomic and Phosphorylated-Tau Species Changes in Non-Human Primate Hippocampus. Res Sq. 2026 Jan 19:rs.3.rs-8426282. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8426282/v1. PMID: 41646401; PMCID: PMC12869656.

- Lewis E, Rough MI, Roberts BF, Costa MB, Czoty PW, Nader MA. Longevity and Catheter-Related Infection Rates in Nonhuman Primates with Chronic Indwelling Intravenous Catheters. Whole-Thorax Irradiation Induces Persistent T Cell Clonal Dysregulation in Pediatric Rhesus Macaques. Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):398-407. doi: 10.1667/RADE-24-00247.1. PMID: 40832948.

- McDonald JT, Rogers CJ, Nishita D, Ghandhi SA, Taraboletti A, Morton SR, Shuryak I, Bakke J, Gahagan J, Pannkuk EL, Authier S, Aryankalayil MJ, Chopra S, Sproull M, Shankavaram U, Camphausen K, Garty G, Amundson SA, Brenner DJ, Turner HC, Schaaf GW, Olson JD, Cline JM, Menon N, Laiakis EC, Fornace AJ Jr, Chang PY. Multicentered Biospecimen Analyses after 4 Gy Sublethal Total Body Irradiation in Rhesus Macaques. Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):384-397. doi: 10.1667/RADE-24-00008.1. PMID: 40832934; PMCID: PMC12710662.

- Costa MB, Collier MA, Epperly PM, Husbands SM, Cami-Kobeci G, Manzoor S, Czoty PW. Effects of the μ-opioid peptide and nociceptin/orphanin FQ peptide receptor agonist BU08028 on cocaine self-administration in male rhesus monkeys. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2025 Oct;392(10):103708. doi: 10.1016/j.jpet.2025.103708. PMID: 41037845.

- Chino Y, Olson JD, Aichele S, Bailey SM, Schaaf GW, Cline JM, Johnson TE. The Impact of Dose, Sex, and Age at Time of Acute Whole-body Radiation Exposure on Long-term Hematopoiesis in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta). Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):408-420. doi: 10.1667/RADE-24-00241.1. PMID: 40832933.

- Mohamed NS, Gagnon NA, Plate JF, Olson JD, Cline JM, Willey JS. Radiation Decreases Bone Density while Diabetes Increases Osteoarthritis in Non-Human Primates. Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):320-328. doi: 10.1667/RADE-24-00077.1. PMID: 40745669.

- Schaaf GW, Olson JD, Elgohari BA, Epperly MW, Hou W, Wang H, Cline JM, Greenberger JS, Mukherjee A. Radiation-induced Lung Injury (RILI) in Non-human Primates (NHPs) Induces Cellular Senescence and Upregulation of Tyrosine Kinase Fgr, which is Detectable in Bronchoalveolar Lavage. Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):354-368. doi: 10.1667/RADE-23-00224.1. PMID: 40745576.

- Schaaf GW, Olson JD, Kahn BT, Kock ND, Caudell DL, Lang RA, Sills WS, Andrews RN, Thakur P, Cline JM. Postmortem Findings from the Wake Forest University Radiation Late Effects Cohort of Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):294-310. doi: 10.1667/RADE-24-00119.1. PMID: 40679937.

- Olson JD, Schaaf GW, Bourland JD, Cline JM. The Wake Forest Nonhuman Primate Radiation Late Effects Cohort. Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):274-282. doi: 10.1667/RADE-25-00063.1. PMID: 40679933.

- Quillen EE, Schaaf GW, Justice JN, Dugan GO, Johnson B, Reed C, Olson JD, Cline JM. Widespread Multimorbidity in a Cohort of Aging, Radiation-exposed Rhesus Macaques. Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):283-293. doi: 10.1667/RADE-24-00014.1. PMID: 40059368; PMCID: PMC12582017.

- Johnson BJ, Andrews RN, Olson JD, Cline JM. Radiation-induced Brain Injury and the Radiation Late Effects Cohort (RLEC) of Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta). Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):369-383. doi: 10.1667/RADE-24-00033.1. PMID: 40059363; PMCID: PMC12631800.

- Lee J, Chen X, Fanning KM, Si C, Davis AT, Wasserman DH, Bracy D, Furdui CM, Kavanagh K. Persistent Postirradiation Skeletal Muscle Protein and Insulin Sensitivity Changes in Nonhuman Primates. Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):311-319. doi: 10.1667/RADE-23-00223.1. PMID: 40053841.

- Stover EL, Rock ML, Olson JD, Schaaf GW, Oguin TH 3rd, Cline JM, Macintyre AN. The Long-term Effects of Acute Total-Body Irradiation on Pre-irradiation Measles-vaccine-induced Immunological Memory. Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):329-342. doi: 10.1667/RADE-23-00203.1. PMID: 40048630; PMCID: PMC12766747.

- Kosowski E, Olson JD, Gardin J, Schaaf GW, Nishita D, Authier S, Chang P, Brenner DJ, Fornace AJ Jr, Cline JM, Laiakis EC. Long-term Radiation Signal Persistence in Urine and Blood: A Two-year Analysis in Non-human Primates Exposed to a 4 Gy Total-Body Gamma-Radiation Dose. Radiat Res. 2025 Oct 1;204(4):343-353. doi: 10.1667/RADE-23-00261.1. PMID: 39504997; PMCID: PMC12560954.

- Cronin EA, Epperly PM, Floge AP, Czoty PW. Punishment of ethanol choice in group-housed male cynomolgus monkeys. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2025 Sep 30;276:112903. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112903. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41043253.

- Allen MI, Lewis E, Rough CF, Nader MA. Ethanol consumption prior to cocaine self-administration reduced vulnerability to cocaine reinforcement in socially subordinate female and male monkeys. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2025 Sep;242(9):2009-2019. doi: 10.1007/s00213-025-06780-4. PMID: 40159415.

- Totty MS, Cervera Juanes R, Bach SV, Ben Ameur L, Valentine MR, Simons E, Romac MD, Trinh H, Henderson K, Del Rosario I, Tippani M, Miller RA, Kleinman JE, Page SC, Saunders A, Hyde TM, Martinowich K, Hicks SC, Costa VD. Transcriptomic diversity of amygdalar subdivisions across humans and nonhuman primates. Sci Adv. 2025 Sep 19;11(38):eadw1029. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adw1029. Epub 2025 Sep 17. PMID: 40961182; PMCID: PMC12442850.

- Kim G, Love K, Connor-Stroud F, Baxter MG, Alvarado M, Raper J. Neonatal sevoflurane exposure induces plasma biomarkers of inflammation in infant rhesus macaques. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2025 Jul-Aug;110:107535. doi: 10.1016/j.ntt.2025.107535. Epub 2025 Aug 5. PMID: 40754208; PMCID: PMC12333540.

- Abusheikha AJ, Johnson CSC, Snyder-Mackler N, Zimmerman KD, Negrey JD, Chiou KL, Frye BM, Howard TD, Shively CA, Register TC. Differential effects of Mediterranean vs. Western diets on coronary atherosclerosis and peripheral artery transcriptomics. Front Nutr. 2025 Jul 10;12:1564741. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1564741. PMID: 40709334; PMCID: PMC12288352.

- Adekunbi DA, Huber HF, Benavides GA, Tian R, Li C, Nathanielsz PW, Zhang J, Darley-Usmar V, Cox LA, Salmon AB. Sex-specific decline in prefrontal cortex mitochondrial bioenergetics in aging baboons correlates with walking speed. Neurobiol Aging. 2025 Jul;151:1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2025.03.010. PMID: 40156934.

- Mishra S, Kumar A, He Y, Su Y, Singh S, Santos MF, Singh R, Lee J, Furdui CM, Shively CA, Kritchevsky SB, Register TC, Deep G. Circulating small extracellular vesicles as blood-based biomarkers of muscle health in aging nonhuman primates. Geroscience. 2025 Jun;47(3):3709-3723. doi: 10.1007/s11357-024-01439-y. PMID: 39656404; PMCID: PMC12181483.

- Cervera-Juanes RP, Zimmerman KD, Wilhelm LJ, Lowe CC, Gonzales SW, Carlson T, Hitzemann R, Ferguson BM, Grant KA. Pre-existing DNA methylation signatures in the prefrontal cortex of alcohol-naïve nonhuman primates define neural vulnerability for future risky ethanol consumption. Neurobiol Dis. 2025 Jun 1;209:106886. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2025.106886. PMID: 40139280; PMCID: PMC12044430.

- Kim J, Lipford ME, Barcus RA, Frye BM, Yuan H, Lyu Q, Hudson JP, Lockhart SN, Sutphen CL, Register TC, Mielke MM, Craft S, Shively CA, Whitlow CT. Effects of Diminished Cerebrospinal Fluid Flow in the Spinal Canal on Amyloid Pathophysiology in Vervet Monkeys. Res Sq. 2025 May 13:rs.3.rs-6551242. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6551242/v1. PMID: 40470227; PMCID: PMC12136218.

- Damuka N, Miller MD, Krizan I, Bansode AH, Bradley C, Bashetti N, Jv SK, Galbo-Thomma LK, Czoty PW, Solingapuram Sai KK. Imaging of Microtubules in a Nonhuman Primate Model of Alcohol Use Disorder. ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci. 2025 Apr 8;8(5):1313-1319. doi: 10.1021/acsptsci.4c00682. PMID: 40370993; PMCID: PMC12070316.

- Berson E, Frye BM, Gajera CR, Saarunya G, Perna A, Phongpreecha T, Shome S, Negrey JD, Aghaeepour N, Montine TJ, Craft S, Register TC, Shively CA. Mediterranean vs. Western diet effects on the primate cerebral cortical pre-synaptic proteome: Relationships with the transcriptome and multi-system phenotypes. Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Mar;21(3):e70041. doi: 10.1002/alz.70041. PMID: 40109017; PMCID: PMC11923382.

- Huber HF, Ainsworth HC, Quillen EE, Salmon A, Ross C, Azhar AD, Bales K, Basso MA, Coleman K, Colman R, Darusman HS, Hopkins W, Hotchkiss CE, Jorgensen MJ, Kavanagh K, Li C, Mattison JA, Nathanielsz PW, Saputro S, Scorpio DG, Sosa PM, Vallender EJ, Wang Y, Zeiss CJ, Shively CA, Cox LA. Comparative lifespan and healthspan of nonhuman primate species common to biomedical research. Geroscience. 2025 Feb;47(1):135-151. doi: 10.1007/s11357-024-01421-8. PMID: 39585646; PMCID: PMC11872815.