Multi-Project Collaborative Teams

Studies by Core Scientist provided the framework to rapidly respond to the devastating consequences of Zika virus infection in humans, particularly during pregnancy. Each team is led by a Core Scientist that represents a Primate Center Research Unit; the teams include cross-unit collaborations and external partnerships. All teams bring their extensive expertise to converge in highly innovative ways and across research domains on this global human health problem through the conduct of basic and translational studies in the rhesus monkey model.

Project Teams

 Infectious Diseases Unit

 Christopher Miller, DVM, PhD, Core Scientist

  • OD023818: A Nonhuman Primate Model for Vaginal Zika Virus Transmission

Team Members: Tim Carroll, PhD, Shelby O’Connor, PhD, Michael Busch, MD, PhD

Carroll et al. Zika virus preferentially replicates in the female reproductive tract after vaginal inoculation of rhesus macaques. PLoS Pathog 13:e1006537, 2017. PMCID: PMC5546709 

 Koen Van Rompay, DVM, PhD, Core Scientist 

  • AI129479: Development of a Nonhuman Primate Model of Fetal Zika Virus Infection and Disease
  • HHS/Blood Systems Research Institute and UC San Francisco: Risk of ZIKV Transmission through Blood Products

Team Members: Eliza Bliss-Moreau, PhD (Neuroscience and Behavior), Lark Coffey, PhD (Affiliate Scientist), John Morrison, PhD (Neuroscience and Behavior), Michael Busch, MD, PhD and Graham Simmons, PhD (Blood Systems Research Institute), Sallie Permar, MD, PhD, Barney Graham, MD, PhD, Michel Nussenzweig, MD, PhD

Coffey et al. Zika virus tissue and blood compartmentalization in acute infection of rhesus macaques. PLoS One 12:e0171148, 2017. PMCID: PMC5283740 

Neuroscience and Behavior Unit

Eliza Bliss-Moreau, PhD, Core Scientist

  • NS104692: Quantitative Neuroanatomical Analyses of Zika-Exposed Macaque Brains

Team Members: John Morrison, PhD (Neuroscience and Behavior), Koen Van Rompay, DVM, PhD (Infectious Diseases)

Reproductive Sciences and Regenerative Medicine Unit

Alice Tarantal, PhD, Core Scientist

  • OD023716: Leveraging Established Fetal Primate Models to Expedite ZIKV Investigations
  • NS103658: Congenital Zika Syndrome and Postnatal Outcomes in Nonhuman Primates
  • AI133548: Imaging and Trafficking of Neurotropic Virus in Maternal/Fetal Nonhuman Primates

Team Members: Dennis Hartigan-O’Connor, MD, PhD (Infectious Diseases and Reproductive Sciences and Regenerative Medicine), Stephen Noctor, PhD (Affiliate Scientist), Anna La Torre, PhD (Affiliate Scientist), Melissa Bauman, PhD (Affiliate Scientist), Simon Cherry, PhD (Reproductive Sciences and Regenerative Medicine)

Collaborations with David O’Connor, PhD and Ted Golos, PhD, Wisconsin National Primate Research Center

Nguyen et al. Highly efficient maternal-fetal Zika virus transmission in pregnant rhesus macaques. PLoS Pathog 13:e1006378, 2017. PMCID: PMC5444831

Tarantal AF, Hartigan-O’Connor DJ, Penna E, Kreutz A, Martinez ML, and Noctor SC. Fetal rhesus monkey first trimester Zika virus infection impacts cortical development in the second and third trimesters. Cereb Cortex 31:2309-2321, 2021. PMCID: PMC8023859

Newman CM, Tarantal AF, Miller CJ, and O’Connor DH. Early embryonic loss following intravaginal Zika virus challenge in rhesus macaques. Front Immunol 12:686437, 2021. PMCID: PMC8165274

Additional Zika Virus Research Links:

The CNPRC recognizes the seminal contributions by Core Scientists at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, and their groundbreaking Zika Open-Research Portal.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

2017 Report from the Global Virus Network

Media Links:

BBC interview

Koen Van Rompay You Tube Video