Open your eyes to Yerkes

The new website for the Yerkes National Primate Research Center is an easy-to-navigate portal to the groundbreaking work and research that takes place there.

As the culmination of its yearlong 75th anniversary celebration, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center has launched a redesigned Web site at www.yerkes.emory.edu.

The new Yerkes site features information on the center’s cutting-edge research initiatives, world-renowned researchers, and state-of-the-art facilities and technology. These key resources, available to collaborating researchers worldwide, are helping further position the center as a leader in advancing scientific understanding of primate biology, behavior, veterinary care and conservation, and in improving human health and well-being.

The new site, key to Yerkes’ efforts to inform the public and the greater Emory community about the irreplaceable role animal models hold in the scientific discovery process, will keep visitors abreast of the exciting work and advancements occurring at the center.

“Our Web site’s user-friendly approach provides visitors with easy access to information about Yerkes’ comprehensive research programs, the latest scientific findings and the center’s expert researchers,” said Stuart Zola, director of the Yerkes Research Center.

“Just as important is the site’s ability to showcase the scientific resources we offer to both collaborating researchers and educators,” he continued. “As the center begins its next 75 years, it is imperative we further educate the Emory community and the greater public about the critical role animal models play in finding answers to some of the world’s most pressing health-care questions.”

As one of only eight National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded national primate research centers, Yerkes is making landmark discoveries in the fields of microbiology and immunology, neuroscience, psychobiology, and sensory-motor systems.

Current research initiatives are seeking ways to develop vaccines for infectious and noninfectious diseases, treat cocaine addiction, interpret brain activity through imaging, increase understanding of progressive illnesses such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, unlock the secrets of memory, determine behavioral effects of hormone replacement therapy, address vision disorders, and advance scholarship about the evolutionary links between biology and behavior.—Stephanie McNicoll