Pilot Research Program Awards (2025-2026)
Sara Freeman, PhD, Associate Professor, Utah State University
The ability to accurately recognize and respond to the emotional states of conspecifics is critical for the successful navigation of social environments, including recognizing kin, finding mates, and avoiding conflict. Primates, including humans, primarily rely on visual signals to accomplish the cognitively demanding task of interpreting social cues. In humans, quantifiable differences in social visual attention and/or eye movements have been consistently reported in psychiatric conditions like autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. The neuropeptide hormone oxytocin can modulate the social cognitive abilities of humans and animals and has been used as an experimental therapeutic to improve social cognition in these clinical populations. This project will use a novel, non-invasive eye tracking paradigm to assess visual discrimination abilities in the monogamous titi monkey and will determine the involvement of the oxytocin system in primate visual attention through the use of drug treatments that selectively activate or block oxytocin signaling in the brain.
Seung K Kim, MD, PhD, Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine
The pancreas is a crucial regulator of metabolism, and impaired pancreatic function underlies diabetes and complications from obesity, diseases with significant impacts on human health. Understanding pancreas formation is an important goal for translational studies focused on improving human health, but large gaps in our understanding of human pancreas development remain, based on challenges obtaining human tissues. Similarities between nonhuman primate and human pancreas development can address these knowledge gaps, and we have assembled a strong team to study M. mulatta pancreas development, with a focus on islets, the sole source of vital hormones like insulin that regulate metabolism and health. Comparison of our data with existing data should reveal new features of pancreatic gene expression. Our work will provide crucial data to foster studies of pancreatic gene regulation in a nonhuman primate, an understudied area of diabetes, metabolism and islet research.
Thomas H. Ambrosi, PhD, Assistant Professor, UC Davis School of Medicine
Many older adults, especially postmenopausal women, suffer from low bone mass leading to osteoporosis and increased fracture incidence. We recently discovered a brain-derived hormone called CCN3 that is released during breastfeeding in female mice to stimulate bone formation thereby preventing excessive skeletal degradation during this important life cycle stage. Our data also implies that this hormone could be leveraged for new treatments against bone loss. Here, we are testing if CCN3 is present and regulated in the same way in non-human primates, which is a crucial next step in developing a future osteoporosis drug for human patients.
Aidan Gilchrist, PhD, Assistant Professor, UC Davis College of Engineering
The process of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) regeneration and maintenance of the blood and immune system is tightly regulated by the bone marrow microenvironment in which they reside. With age, there is significant remodeling of the microenvironment and a functional decline in the blood and immune system. Reproductive states, such as puberty, pregnancy, and menopause also induce dynamic changes in hematopoietic activity. However, how reproductive history and status influence the bone marrow microenvironment and contribute to HSC aging remains poorly understood. In this study, we will investigate how the microenvironment changes across both age and reproductive states. These insights will provide a foundation for understanding how reproductive history and status shapes the trajectory of hematopoietic aging.
Carolyn Coyne, PhD, Professor, Duke University School of Medicine
Throughout pregnancy, the fetus may be exposed to various environmental and infectious agents that can disrupt development, collectively called teratogens. These include drugs and microbial infections, many of which exert their effects on the placenta. The trophoblast is a specialized placental cell type responsible for nutrient exchange, hormone secretion, and immune protection. How teratogens disrupt trophoblast function remains poorly understood. To address this gap, studies will assess rhesus trophoblast organoids in vitro compared to human trophoblast organoids, and select studies in vivo. This project will validate the use of rhesus trophoblast organoids for studying teratogens, and provide a scalable, physiologically relevant model for future developmental research.