IMPROVED RESOURCE UTILIZATION THROUGH ANIMAL AND 
FACILITIES SHARING AT THE LABORATORY FOR 
EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN PRIMATES 
E. I. Goldsmith,' J. Moor-Jankowski" and J. Davis" 
The Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Sur- 
gery in Primates (LEMSIP) was planned to fill the 
need for nonhuman primate animals and appropriate 
related facilities in a large biomedical research com- 
munity (Greater New York). It was designed to grow 
stepwise in response to demand from the investigators 
in the many participating institutions. The validity of 
the concept has been demonstrated by the continued 
growth of the laboratory despite the recent general con- 
traction of research activities. During the six years of 
its existence LEMSIP has assisted 190 scientists. At this 
writing it accommodates 126 active research programs 
from 65 institutions. More than 100 shipments of bio- 
logical materials are sent each month to various investi- 
gators. Beginning with 34 primate animals in 1965, the 
laboratory presently houses 90 apes and 300 monkeys. 
Floor space has increased from 1600 ft^ in 1965 to 
more than 25,288 ft° at present. The participating in- 
vestigators are committed to a program of maximum 
utilization of animals and facilities, thus achieving re- 
markable economy in operation. 
INTRODUCTION 
Despite great scientific and therapeutic ad- 
vances which resulted directly from the use of 
nonhuman primates in biomedical research, 
availability of apes and monkeys for medical 
experimentation remained severely restricted 
until recent times. This v^as due mainly to una- 
vailability of properly conditioned animals and 
of qualified personnel, lack of knov^^ledge of the 
animals, lack of methods for their maintenance 
and handling, lack of proper equipment and, in 
general, lack of systems for efficient use of pri- 
mates in medical experimentation. These prob- 
lems could not be solved in small animal colo- 
nies maintained by single investigators for 
their ov^^n studies. Therefore, the protangonists 
* Department of Surgery, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical 
Center and the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery 
in Primates of New York University Medical Center. 
** The Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in 
Primates of New York University Medical Center. 
of the use of simians for research purposes real- 
ized the need for larger colonies v^hich could de- 
velop specialized husbandry and handling tech- 
niques, and be used as an animal resource by 
larger groups of investigators. 
The first primate colony for biomedical re- 
search was established in 1927 in Sukhumi, Cri- 
mea, U.S.S.R. Before W.W.II, the U.S. Gov- 
ernment sponsored an experimental monkey 
colony on an uninhabited island off Puerto Rico. 
The greatest advances in availability and use of 
nonhuman primates in research began, how- 
ever, in the early 1960's with the advent of the 
N. I. H. -supported Primate Research Centers 
program. Unfortunately, the geographical dis- 
tribution of the regional primate research cen- 
ters made their use inconvenient for New York 
scientists, although the New York Academy of 
Medicine estimates that more than 15% of the 
national health related research is carried out 
in the New York area. 
BACKGROUND 
Although the nucleus of the present LEMSIP 
organization was established by Dr. Moor-Jan- 
kowski in 1959 at the Lister Institute for Pre- 
ventive Medicine, London, and later at the De- 
partment of Pathology, Cambridge University, 
England, the rapid expansion of this primate 
laboratory came after its location in New York 
in 1965. In May, 1966, the Committee of Scien- 
tists for the Use of Primates in Medical Re- 
search was established in New York and be- 
came a sponsor and guide of LEMSIP activities. 
The Laboratory, as it now exists, was de- 
veloped through imaginative collaboration 
among investigators from various medical insti- 
tutions, infiuential public figures, the Associated 
Medical Schools of New York and New Jersey, 
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