Third Monkey Dies At Harvard Research Center

Harvard Medical School is promising to take aggressive action to correct the way it operates its primate research lab after three monkeys died there in just over 19 months.

The incidents prompted an investigation into the Harvard-operated New England Primate Research Center by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees such facilities.

The USDA released its report Sunday, and that prompted Harvard to release a statement in which it blames, in part, "managerial practices"  at the research facility. The report goes on to say:

While the science at the NEPRC has always been superb, we have determined from self‐examination that some of the administrative and managerial practices have not been on the same par with our scientific standards of excellence, and that there were deficiencies in the establishment and execution of systems that govern the Center's overall operations. We fully acknowledge that we must close the gap between these two equally important endeavors, and that we must use the lessons learned to make necessary and ongoing improvements.

Carolyn Johnson, a science reporter, has been covering this story for the Boston Globe. She joined Radio Boston to discuss the USDA's report.

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