Protecting ONPRC’s Essential Role in Public Health and Biomedical Progress

January 21, 2026

Oregon Health & Science University
Attn: Board of Directors
3225 SW Pavilion Loop MC: L101
Portland, OR 97239

Re: Protecting ONPRC’s Essential Role in Public Health and Biomedical Progress

Dear Chair King, Vice Chair Braswell, and Members of the OHSU Board of Directors,

On behalf of the 17 undersigned organizations, we write in advance of the January 22 public hearing regarding Oregon Health & Science University’s (OHSU) budget note response¹ assessing potential scenarios if the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) faces a significant reduction in federal support. While we acknowledge the Board’s duty to plan responsibly and transparently, we encourage discussions to also focus on the scientific and public health importance of ONPRC’s research, including the consequences for patients, families, and communities if this vital resource is diminished or lost.

Losing ONPRC would be a grave mistake and a step backward for science and public health at a time when patients urgently need new options. ONPRC is one of the seven National Primate Research Centers in the U.S., supported for decades as part of the federal biomedical research infrastructure vital to national preparedness and innovation. The center’s expertise spans multiple research divisions, enabling studies that cannot be conducted with a single method. This includes non-animal methods that, while important for early studies and progress, are not enough to address every aspect of disease. ONPRC’s work has and will continue to transform areas such as maternal-fetal health, reproductive medicine, neuroscience, immunology, genetics, and metabolic disease. Together, these efforts help translate discovery
into safer, more effective therapies that improve both human and animal health.

Additionally, we urge the Board to consider the broader and irreversible impact of losing ONPRC, including costs to the expert workforce, research capacity, and Oregon’s leadership in science. ONPRC supports a large staff with approximately 267 full-time employees, many in highly specialized animal care and research support roles. Closure would not only result in job losses and economic disruption across the Portland region but also the loss of institutional expertise, training capacity, and scientific infrastructure that takes decades to build and cannot be quickly recreated elsewhere.

Finally, while we understand that advocacy organizations are urging the Board to pursue closure, we respectfully ask that decisions not be driven by coordinated inbox campaigns or rhetoric, but by evidence and public health responsibility. The budget note response makes clear that closure scenarios are complex, costly, and require time and resources to ensure responsible outcomes for employees, animals, and OHSU’s broader research mission.

We encourage the Board to reaffirm ONPRC’s importance as a national scientific asset, and to pursue a forward-looking path that strengthens scientific integrity, animal welfare, and transparency while preserving the research capabilities and clinical hope that patients continue to rely upon.

Sincerely,
American Association for Laboratory Animal Science
Americans for Medical Progress
American Physiological Society
American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
Associated Medical Schools of New York
Bio-Serv
California Biomedical Research Association
Charles River Laboratories
Emory National Primate Research Center
North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research
Northwest Association for Biomedical Research
Pennsylvania Society for Biomedical Research
Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research
Society for Neuroscience
Southwest Association for Education in Biomedical Research
Texas Society for Biomedical Research

1 Oregon Health & Science University. (2025). OHSU budget note response [Report].