Primate research rejected with reason

A letter to the editor from OSU President Burns Hargis

Published: Friday, December 4, 2009

Updated: Friday, December 4, 2009 00:12

Editor's note: OSU officials submitted this letter to the editor for publication.

There have been many questions asked about our decision not to participate as a collaborator on a research project regarding the effect of lethal pathogens on non-human primates. The decision is controversial. It has been suggested that this decision was reached arbitrarily and it was influenced by animal rights activists as well as a donor. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This decision was made after extensive consultations with experts including scientists from other research institutes and university presidents. I also considered the decision of the OSU Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee composed of faculty members and staff. And, I received valuable input from OSU's Vice President of Research and Technology Dr. Stephen McKeever. Clearly, this decision was not arbitrary nor was it influenced by anyone other than those consulted.

I wish I could tell you everything I learned in the process that influenced my decision. But here are some key facts which have been overlooked:

— OSU would be a subcontractor. The lead investigator is on the east coast near bio-safety labs capable of partnering with him, but he instead chose OSU.

— This research project would involve as many as 124 baboons.

— Contrary to reports, no contract has been written or awarded, nor has OSU received any funding for it.

— The financial impact to OSU would have been minor and OSU's role would have been limited, using our labs to inject the lethal pathogens and toxins into the baboons and then to euthanize them.

— OSU has never been involved in euthanizing non-human primates.

— OSU's distinguished Vice President of Research Stephen McKeever agrees with the decision to not participate in this project.

— OSU already has an active research program involving lethal pathogens in conjunction with bioterrorism and these efforts will continue.

I fully appreciate the difficult issues, as well as the many benefits, pertaining to animal research consistent with the highest ethical standards in developing new treatments for animal and human diseases. The benefits of such work for society are enormous and OSU will continue to be involved in animal research.

OSU enjoys a long and respected research program in evaluating the detection, effects and countermeasures of biological agents that could be used as weapons of terror against our country. That vital work continues and I am proud of OSU's research teams.

I regret that this current situation has been sensationalized by some who disagree with my decision. After an exhaustive evaluation, weighing scientific merit and other pertinent factors, I made the decision I firmly believe is in the best interests of Oklahoma State University.

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Your name

Fri Dec 11 2009 16:39

This decision will run off good researchers and NIH funding.... bad choice Hargis. Did you even consider the repercussions of your decision?

Concerned

Fri Dec 11 2009 11:34

In the interest of fairness (and even though I conceptually agree with most of the posters)...

The staff and program doing the work have as much a financial conflict of interest as Hargis. Their program would receive the money what I assume is some kind of contract connected to the grant. So, you can't just blame Hargis' side of the the story as being about money. Further, an IACUC approval is not an endorsement of the research. It simply means the research met their threshold of what's allowable (within their realm of responsibility) at the institution. Further, there's not a whole lot of hard science going on at OSU for this project. It sounds like their performing a service (injecting then euthanizing). This could be done at any number of places and does not diminish or improve the level of scientific effort at OSU overall.

If the administration didn't want to do it, it should have been nipped much earlier. In some sense, that's a part of their job. Being in an academic environment, however, I can tell you that investigators will keep projects under the radar as long as possible (especially from administration) if they suspect there will be controversy. The goal of this sometimes (not always) is to get the process so far along, that it become politically unpalatable to put a stop to it. If this is the case here, administration called the bluff and put a stop to everything. I think that was a bad decision, if that's what went on. Sometimes you just have to suck it up if you're outplayed. If the decision was about a donor, it was an even worse late decision, and a stupid one (bad publicity, estrangement of other donors, etc.). If the decision was mainly about animal rights activist fears (as appears to be what's being claimed recently), that's very sad, but it's a reasonable fear. I know colleagues whose lives have been threatened, personal property vandalized (at their home, not work), etc. The administration has to look after all of its employees as well as promoting science and education.

An impartial observer

Thu Dec 10 2009 21:48

"Money, money, money,...it's a rich man's world...'

Forget scientific research for the welfare of human kind. The man, er..Pickens...., with money has the power to decide!

no name

Wed Dec 9 2009 21:12

Why would a Vet school with a biosafety facility and an active bioterrorism research program want to do bioterrorism research on non-human primates? Can you try and explain that to us Mr. Hargis?

A grant reviewing peer

Fri Dec 4 2009 13:08

If any OSU researchers have ever been collaborators on projects that involve the use of nonhuman primate materials or tissues then the "never been involved" is a bit of a distortion. May the international community of scientists assume that no OSU investigator will be permitted to do anything with nonhuman primate-derived cells, genes, endemic pathogens, etc in the future?

Hallie

Fri Dec 4 2009 12:26

cough cough BULLSH*T cough cough

Prof. X

Fri Dec 4 2009 09:14

This explains nothing of the reasoning behind the decision. There is no explanation as to the REASONS. Why doesn't the President share the "extensive consultations" he did with the public and most importantly the OSU faculty and staff.

Owen the Skeptic

Fri Dec 4 2009 08:36

It's a pity that Hargis' "extensive consultations" before taking such an unusual and important decision did not include the scientists and veterinarians involved with the project or the members of the IACUC that approved it, that seems quite a serious omission. The project had been under discussion and planning for almost a year, including review by the OSU IACUC and biosafety committee, plenty of time for Hargis to raise any concerns and discuss them with those involved. The project still had not received the clearence of the OSU biosafety committee so there wasn't any need to rush so quickly into this decision without first consulting the scientists affected by it. Why the sudden change of mind? People are bound to see a hidden hand in all this.

The lead investigator was until very recently based at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, an institution with very close links to the OSU Oklahoma Health Science Center. It's hardly surprising that he would want to collaborate with scientists at OHSC whose work he knows very well. Also OSU scientists have in the past worked with lethal pathogens (requiring euthanasia) in baboons from OSU but since these were biosafety level 2 pathogens the actual experiments were carried out in level 2 facilities at OU or OMRF, now that the project is moving to using level 3 pathogens the scientists wish to use the new level 3 facilities at OSU instead, hardly a radical departure.

If Hargis wants to avoid decisions being "sensationalized" he really needs to work on his management skills, frankly his decision making on this occasion stinks!

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