A controversial research center in Oregon where monkeys have been used as lab rats for years may end up becoming a primate sanctuary. 

The Oregon Health and Science University began talks last week to decide the fate of the Oregon National Primate Research Center. But, it has faced enormous amounts of backlash from animal rights groups who have called for its closure for years over animal cruelty and torture claims. 

The center in Hillsboro is home to around 5,000 monkeys and 267 employees and stands as the largest of the seven federally supported primate research centers, Oregon Live reported.   

Following abandoned talks of a Legacy Health merger, lawmakers have pushed for the center to switch gears and end its research. 

After a vote in February by the OHSU board, which pushed for President Dr Shereef Elnahal to convert the center into a sanctuary for monkeys, Elnahal told staff at a recent OHSU Faculty Senate meeting that a sanctuary would only go ahead if it was fully funded, according to the outlet. 

Elnahal said 'there will be no deal' unless Congress were to provide the federal funds to cover the estimated $220 million to $290 million cost, Oregon Live reported. 

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced in February that the vote for the center to end experiments on monkeys was a 'colossal win for monkeys and science.'

PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo told the Daily Mail, however, that the center should be funding the sanctuary, not the government. 

'[The center] has profited from these monkeys for the last 60 years. They've taken in millions and millions of dollars to experiment on them,' she said. '...if it can be transitioned to a sanctuary that meets the standards of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, we would be all in favor of that.'

PETA said that the vote followed 'sustained pressure' from the organization, along with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Oregon legislators, Governor Tina Kotek and residents of the state.

'During these discussions, the primate center will stop breeding monkeys as OHSU works with NIH to devise a plan to end the torment and killing of 1,200 monkeys a year in pointless tests,' the organization said. 

'The abuse inside the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) is so grotesque and prolific that adjectives simply fail to describe the horror accurately.'

The organization cited experiments, including one that separated young monkeys from their mothers and deliberately frightened them and another injecting nicotine or surgically implanting nicotine pouches into the animals. 

Elliot Spindel's nicotine experiment intended to see the effect of the drugs on the monkey's children, and in one example he gave the animals high doses of vitamin c, removed their fetuses and performed 'lung function' tests on them before they were killed and internally studied, according to PETA. 

Dr Lisa Jones-Engel, who performed the separation experiment on the subjects, also published two experiments which saw seven-month-old and then 14-month-old monkeys being killed by exsanguination, or 'bleeding out.'

'Experimenters have deviated from approved protocols, exposing monkeys to additional pain and distress,' the animal rights organization said. 

Guillermo added that the experiments in the center 'is more the stuff of nightmare than the stuff of science.'

'The rest of the scientific world is moving ahead...all the public had to hear is that the [center] straps monkeys into chairs and electro ejaculates them and that's all they needed to know to be in favor of closure,' she said. 

According to Guillermo, PETA conducted two undercover investigations into the center, one in 2001 and another in 2007, and 'from that time to this, nothing has changed.' 

The center's largest benefactor, the National Institutes of Health which has poured in tens of millions of dollars each year, announced in April that it would be 'adopting a new initiative' to focus more on human-based research technologies. 

'For decades, our biomedical research system has relied heavily on animal models,' NIH Director Dr Jay Bhattacharya said in the release. 'With this initiative, NIH is ushering in a new era of innovation.'

'This human-based approach will accelerate innovation, improve healthcare outcomes and deliver life-changing treatments. It marks a critical leap forward for science, public trust and patient care,' he added. 

Guillermo called the NIH's announcement a 'good start,' but believes they haven't moved fast enough and the center 'should have been closed down at least a decade or more ago' when the New England National Primate Research Center shuttered its doors.  

While animal welfare activist groups continue to push for the center to halt its research on primates, an opposing and recently formed nonprofit, Oregon Voices for Biomedical Research, launched their 'Save Science Oregon' campaign. 

The campaign is calling for the center to continue its research, as spokesperson Diana Gordon told Oregon Live that the group of 'concerned citizens and scientists' has hopes of correcting misinformation and defending the advancements the research offers. 

'We feel that the political realm has encroached on science in a way that should not be happening. Science is not political... it is an endeavor attempting to help all of us,' Gordon told the outlet. 

Defense of the center revolves largely around the medical advancements that the research facilitates, which Gordon argued could not be done with computer models and lab-grown tissues. 

'Everyone in our group... looks forward to the day when animals are no longer needed in research... but it's just not right now,' she said. 

The center has been responsible for a large number of studies on vaccines, infectious disease, neuroscience, reproductive health and aging, aiding advancements in cancer treatments as well as HIV and infertility. 

Guillermo told the Mail, however, that 'the experimenters who use monkeys at the primate center are primarily concerned with keeping their jobs.'

'This place has been in business for 60 years. Remarkably little has come out of it that would benefit humans, and it's time for them to acknowledge that and move on to better science,' she continued. 

'Instead they're reframing it that their work is essential. We know it's not. Where are the vaccinations for HIV? Where are the vaccinations to prevent tuberculosis? Where is anything other than a published paper that has allowed a professor to slide into the tenure track?'  

Researchers at the center have said that the current talks pose a major threat to their work, as Elnahal said the discussions come with hopes of avoiding a forced closure of the center. 

The discussions to decide the center's fate, however, are expected to continue on until August and current employees grow ever-more concerned for their jobs and research.

Should the center be transformed into a sanctuary, research would be restricted; new breeding would halt and animal studies would be limited while existing research could continue. 

Molly Shallman, a union-represented researcher, said at a recent board meeting that the center's employees are experiencing 'growing stress' over the fate of their careers. She also accused the center of being misleading in suggesting that the discussions were initiated through federal officials, the outlet reported. 

Elnahal acknowledged that communications had been sparse, noting the need for sensitivity during negotiations, but any final agreement would be made public. 

He also said that the NIH approached the center with a draft agreement, but he had been in talks with federal officials prior to the draft. 

OHSU officials told the outlet that the discussions were 'ongoing, deliberative and confidential.' 

According to PETA, the center houses 5,403 monkeys as of 2023 and took around $335 million in government money in the 2023 fiscal year. 

Guillermo added: 'I think we're headed in the right direction, but the university probably needs a kick to get going.

'I would urge them to consider that the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has stated publicly that he would like the primate centers to close and transition into sanctuaries.' 

The Daily Mail reached out to Oregon Voices for Biomedical Research, the National Institutes of Health and the Oregon Health and Science University for comment.