Nonhuman Primate Evaluation and Analysis Part 2: Report of the Expert Panel Forum on Challenges in Assessing Nonhuman Primate Needs and Resources for Biomedical Research

To augment and expand upon the findings of the Nonhuman Primate Evaluation and Analysis Part 1: Analysis of Future Demand and Supply of the study, which was derived from historical analyses, supplier interviews, and user surveys, an expert panel forum was convened by the NIH on “Challenges in Assessing Nonhuman Primate (NHP) Needs and Resources for Biomedical Research.” A forum was conducted August 23–24, 2018, and brought together program officers from the NIH ICOs that sponsor the majority of NHP studies, leading researchers who use NHPs and represent a broad spectrum of scientific areas, and NHP resource managers from the academic, government, and commercial sectors. The objectives of the meeting were to—

• Forecast the future uses of NHPs in biomedical research
• Discuss and determine the scientific advances that are driving the future research
• Define the relevant and emerging NHP models that will be required for future biomedical advances
• Assess the capabilities of the existing resources and their ability to adapt to future needs, including an examination of the timeframe needed for expansion and, if expansion is not possible, what additional resources or infrastructure would be required
• Address the challenges in the resource planning process

The forum was designed with the assistance of an organizing committee comprised of experts in NHP research and resource management and was intended to examine demand and supply from the perspective of each of the three groups of attendees: program sponsors who broadly generate demand based on their funding priorities, researchers who have specific NHP needs, and resource managers who must manage their breeding colonies and provide specialized populations and research capabilities to meet the needs of researchers. The discussions and potential solutions identified by forum participants were further evaluated by the organizing committee after the conclusion of the meeting and synthesized into a set of key recommendations for NIH consideration.

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