James Thomson, V.M.D., Ph.D., who in the 1990s became the first to isolate and culture both primate and human embryonic stem cells, is collaborating with several other investigators on campus on ES cell research. Here’s a quick list:

• Thomson is working on embryonic stem cell transplantation in a rhesus monkey model of Parkinson’s disease with Ei Terasawa, Ph.D., at the Primate Center. They will attempt to direct ES cells into becoming dopaminergic neurons.

• Su-Chun Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., at the Waisman Center is researching neural-based stem cells and their potential for treating multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other diseases.

• Working with Dan Kaufman, M.D., Ph.D., and other hematologists, Thomson aims to do rhesus monkey blood ES cell transplants within a few years.

• Transplant surgeon Jon Odorico, M.D., is collaborating with Thomson to develop ES cells into pancreatic cells that might someday be able to manufacture natural insulin for people with diabetes.

• Tim Kamp, M.D., Ph.D., is a cardiologist working on using cardiac muscle cells from ES cells to possibly help restore cardiac function in patients who have heart disease.

• Ren-He Xu, M.D., Ph.D., is a developmental biologist researching ES cell self-renewal and trophoblast differentiation induced by BMP4 (bone morphogenetic protein 4) in both human and rhesus monkey cells.

“Rhesus monkeys will likely be an excellent model for many ES cell therapies,” says Thomson, who is in charge of developing Primate Center resources for ES cell research.

Thomson also directs WiCell, a private research institute off campus operated under a collaboration agreement with the UW-Madison. WiCell allows the sharing of the unique resources at the Primate Center, the UW Hospital Transplant Program and the Waisman Clinical BioManufacturing Facility with scientists conducting ES cell research at more than 50 universities in the U.S., and a growing number of facilities in other countries.

For more information:

ES cell research at UW-Madison
(UW-Madison’s home page on embryonic stem cells)
www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells

Wisconsin Primate Research Center
(General inquiries, contacts for ES cell research)
jlenon@primate.wisc.edu

WiCell Research Institute
(Inquiries on human ES cell research and distribution)
info@wicell.org

UW News and Public Affairs
(Media inquiries on ES cells)
trdevitt@facstaff.wisc.edu
 

Stem cell donation

Wisconsin Attorney General James Doyle and movie producer Jerry Zucker recently 
 presented a $250,000 state donation to embryonic stem cell research at the Primate Center.

The donation was on behalf of Zucker’s daughter, who has juvenile diabetes. The disease might one day be treated with somatic cell nuclear transfer therapies involving embryonic stem cells.

Touring the Primate Center in December were WPRC Director Joseph Kemnitz, Doyle, Zucker, and WPRC Librarians Larry Jacobsen and Ray Hamel. Zucker, a UW-Madison alumnus, joined actor-activist Christopher Reeve and others on Capitol Hill March 5 to fight legislation that would ban technologies for replicating human genetic material. Zucker told reporters the nation has a history of overcoming its fear of science to embrace technologies such as in vitro fertilization, according to an article in UPI Science News. Reeve was quoted as saying, “It is amazing to me that we have to be here today, because it’s so clear that embryonic stem cells ... are a miracle that could be available to us…”
 

Assay Services: It’s not just hormones anymore

Cortisol, estradiol, insulin, growth hormone, testosterone, prolactin... Hundreds of hormones are staples of the Assay Services daily workload.

Enter neurotransmitters, viral reagents, cerebrospinal fluid... If you need blood, saliva, feces, bone or any other sample analyzed for any number of components, chances are high that Assay Services can do it.

Prefaced by the “Steroid Lab” in the early ‘60s, Assay Services began in 1972 and is now the WPRC’s largest service unit next to Animal Services. A staff of five conducts more than 100,000 fast and accurate determinants annually of hundreds of different regulators of bodily function. The lab has received national and international recognition for the volume, quality and diversity of its endocrine measurements in nonhuman primates.

Samples from 12 species of Old World Primates and 14 species of New Worlds have passed through the lab. It has served hundreds of users at or outside of the center.

The lab has one of the center’s most detailed Web sites: (http://yakui.primate.wisc.edu/people/wegner/assay.php). Here you can read about the history and procedures, find assay types, and fill out service request forms.

David H. Abbott succeeded William Bridson as unit head in February 1991. He and co-chief Toni Ziegler have developed Assay Services into a fully integrated research core. They are grateful to Robert Goy, Jerry Robinson, Bill Bridson, Bob Matteri and Guenther Scheffler, who all contributed invaluably to the outstanding growth of the unit over the past three decades.

Today, the close-knit staff keeps the unit growing with the needs of the expanding research community. The “secret of their success” has as much to do with how they get along and communicate with one another as it does with their skills and experience. This camaraderie was evident when the team met recently with Centerline’s editor to talk about what they do over a classic Wisconsin lunch of cheeseburgers, cheese tuna melts and cheese nachos.

Centerline: Was there ever a time before Assay Services?

Fritz: Once, researchers at the center performed their own assays. They had their own technicians, equipment and standard reference preparations. This was inherently redundant and inefficient and led to different assay results within the center. It was a quality control nightmare.

Toni: At first, the only assays done were crude bioassays and radioimmunoassays. We started doing enzyme assays around 1990.

C-Line: So now, who does what day-to-day?

Toni: Dan and Fritz keep everyone up-to-date—technicians, scientists, post-docs—everyone who wants to come in and do different things. All the training goes through them. They record every assay performed.

Both Dan and Fritz are there to make things work. If you do a hormonal measurement, even if you’re well trained, if anything happens, you need someone you can go to and say, “What went wrong? Why didn’t this work?” They’re the ones who will give you the answer.

Steve provides new expertise to our unit. With his help, we plan to perform more HPLC-mass spectrometry, a new technique used to identify and quantify molecules. [HPLC stands for high pressure liquid chromatography].

C-Line: Does Assay Services handle infectious agents?

Toni: Assay Services has to work on a Biolevel II containment protocol. We handle all samples carefully—our rhesus samples of course—plus we have materials coming in from Africa, such as  fecal samples from wild monkeys. We have to treat everything like it’s hazardous or could harbor viruses. Even if we’re working with tamarin urine, we have to treat everything as if it’s potentially dangerous. We work with the Centers for Disease Control to acquire the permits we need to transport samples from the field. If we’re using solvents extensively in the lab on a certain day, we’ll advise pregnant women working in the lab not to come in that day.

C-Line: Who are some of your frequent users?

Fritz: The Aging Group runs insulin samples. Neuroscientists analyze large numbers of samples from hypothalamic perfusion. Reproduction Research Services needs hormonal analyses to indicate when females are cycling and determine the best time to recover embryos. That unit relies extensively on us for hormonal analyses. Large numbers of outside scientists use a whole range of assays.

Dan: Immunology Core staff came to us a while ago to learn the extent to which female rhesus with SIV were cycling.

Dave: Several of us depend on chromatographic separation of hormones prior to assay.

C-Line: What is one of the more unique requests you've ever received?

Dan: Someone wanted to know if a captive gorilla’s stress levels could be reduced by listening to Mozart. They took daily fecal samples to see if cortisol levels would drop over time. We’re not sure what they concluded.

C-Line: The jury’s still out on whether classical music soothes prenatal babies as well. But that is interesting. Assay Services seems to be able to “do it all.”

Toni: Well, we’re doing more than hormone work. We’re steadily increasing our number of biomarker assays. Bone biomarkers, for example, provide indicators that can signal bone loss. We plan to run ascorbic acid assays, too, to assess semen quality. 

Fritz: We can also do more because we exchange information with the other Primate Centers. We swap training and techniques.

We also need to recognize our data management team—Paul DuBois [former database administrator], Tom Lynch and Bob Becker. With their help, we have been able to efficiently capture and calculate data from our many and varied counters and analyzers, make graphs, do statistics, and electronically distribute data to users around the world.

C-Line: How is the unit's co-leadership going?

Toni: Very well. Dave and I both interact with prospective clients. We try to look at everything and improve in every way we can.

Dave: We have a strong staff and haven’t had any turnover for several years. If there’s a problem, we communicate and solve it. We are an integral part of so many projects, because of the endocrine underpinning to aging, disease, various biomedical problems, and understanding the natural biology of animals in the  field. Without hormone assays, there’s a lot of information that’s missed. So, we’re a hub in many projects—from behavioral ecology to gene studies of diseases. We continually develop and validate new assays. We keep people informed about what needs to be done.

Assay Services is  a “core” in the true, at-the-center-of-everything sense of the word. The unit has created a service niche to investigators here and beyond the center. It’s affordable, convenient, accurate and comprehensive. This dedicated group has seen its their work cited in hundreds of scientific articles that have taught us volumes about how we and our close relatives develop, behave, reproduce, fight illness, and age. If their expertise isn’t enough, anyone visiting the lab will tell you that their amiable cooperation is what makes the centrifuge go round… This party of five knows how to get the job done, and they have fun doing it.
 

Note from a founding father...

"What began in 1972 as a small unit to complement research efforts in reproductive biology and developmental psychology has grown to service a broad range of scientific disciplines that depend upon Primate Center resources.  This unit was perhaps the prototype for many of the service units that exist in various forms at all the National Primate Research Centers.  Such units not only provide technical support and supplies but also provide the "intellectual infrastructure" to help affiliate scientists develop and conduct their experiments.  Over the last three decades, the WPRC's Assay Services Unit has generated a great deal of valuable "normative data" regarding hormonal parameters in nonhuman primates.  Such a database has led to a reduction in the number of controls required and hence, a reduction in the total number of animals needed for experimental protocols.  The services of this unit continue to be an invaluable resource for the nonhuman primate research community."     —Dr. Jerry Robinson, Director, National Primate Research Centers Program (Assay Services chief, 1972-86)
 

Meet the staff...

David Abbott (Ph.D., zoology, Edinburgh University, Scotland) co-chairs the unit with Toni Ziegler. Dr. Abbott provides overall direction and management of the core. He joined the center as a researcher in 1990. His current projects include basic research in polycystic ovarian syndrome in rhesus monkeys, and neuroendocrine and contraceptive studies using common marmosets.

Toni Ziegler (Ph.D., physiology and anatomy, Texas A&M University) develops new methodology and targets new areas of development for hormone and neutrotransmitter analysis. She joined the Center as a post-doctoral trainee in 1983, and Assay Services in 1994. Dr. Ziegler, a senior scientist at the center, studies behavioral neuroendocrinology in cotton-top tamarins and common marmosets. She also collaborates with Dr. Karen Strier on the endocrine research portion of Dr. Strier’s muriqui monkey research. 

Fritz Wegner (B.A., zoology, UW-Madison) is responsible for tracking assay results, database entry, training, radiation safety, quality control, and maintaining Assay Services’ Web pages. Wegner, who has worked at the center since 1976, manages his unit’s iodinated assays, particularly proteins and peptides.

Dan Wittwer (B.S., biology, Stevens Point) trains Assay Services users. He is also responsible for quality control, chemical and biological safety, and assay development. Wittwer manages the steroid lab and tritium based assays. He has worked at the Primate Center since 1984.

Steve Jacoris (B.S., chemistry and political science, University of Kentucky) is responsible for bringing new technology and chemical techniques to Assay Services. He also monitors the use of restricted chemicals. He joined the unit in 1998.
 

Research team shares in AIDS discoveries
By Tom Friedrich, B.S.

It all began with a commonplace event. Sometime in the 1930s, men working in the equatorial forests of Central Africa killed some chimpanzees for food. Such “bushmeat” has been consumed traditionally in many areas of Africa, and the practice is on the increase today. But one day 70 years ago, something was different. One of the chimpanzees taken that day was infected with the direct ancestor of the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV. By handling the chimp’s blood and tissues, some of the men were infected with the new virus. Over the years, there have probably been several such exposures. The virus has adapted itself to growing in humans, and now causes one of the most frightening of modern diseases—AIDS.

This is the current scientific understanding of the origin of the AIDS virus. It helps explain why today, over 20 years after AIDS was first recognized as a unique disease, over 70% of HIV-infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa. These people, and others in the developing world, are the hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic. They can’t afford AIDS drugs, and so the search is on for a vaccine that will protect people in Africa, and the rest of the world, from HIV infection. Investigators at the Wisconsin Primate Research Center, led by Dr. David Watkins, are among those at the forefront of this effort.

One of these researchers is my colleague Bianca Mothé, Ph.D. Her recent work with rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the monkey analogue of HIV, is shedding light on why a few lucky individuals are naturally able to control AIDS virus infection—and why most cannot. A small minority of humans infected with HIV have remained clinically healthy for over 20 years. These so-called long-term nonprogressors may be able to teach us some important lessons about the prospects for the immune system to control HIV. It would be enormously helpful to study long-term nonprogressor macaques infected with SIV, but none had been found—until recently.

“It started last year with observations made by many people in our group,” Bianca said. “Three of our animals—out of almost 60—had been infected for a long time, over two years, yet were apparently healthy.” While HIV may take 10 years to cause AIDS in humans, the SIV strain we use usually causes AIDS in rhesus macaques within a year. Not only were these animals healthy, but we have been unable to detect any SIV virus in blood samples from two of them. The third monkey harbored detectable levels of virus, but still much lower than we were used to seeing.

“The virus load, or number of viruses present in one milliliter of blood, is the best known clinical measure of how well an individual is controlling infection with the AIDS virus,” Bianca explained. The most sensitive tests can detect as little as 400 viruses per milliliter. Most infected monkeys spend the asymptomatic, or  chronic phase of infection with virus loads of 100,000 to 1 million viruses per milliliter. The higher the virus load, the more likely the monkey will rapidly develop AIDS. Two monkeys in Bianca’s study had loads of less than 400 and one had less than 30,000; the lowest virus loads ever observed in untreated monkeys infected with this virus.

Our group has vaccinated other monkeys against AIDS, and yet has never seen the remarkable level of control these three animals were showing. What makes their prolonged good health possible? Could their health be analogous to that of human long-term nonprogressors?

Bianca observed that all three animals made strong cellular immune responses against the virus. Our group has specialized in studying immune responses made by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), or “killer” T cells. During their lifetimes, all cells in the body “sample” proteins present within them, displaying pieces of protein on their surfaces in basket-like molecules known as MHC class I molecules. These molecular “baskets,” together with the pieces of cellular proteins nestled within them, are surveyed by killer T cells, and indicate the health of the cell they’re on. If the killer cells recognize pieces of virus proteins inside the MHC baskets, they rapidly mobilize molecular machinery that kills the virus-infected cell before the virus can spread.

By testing for some of the chemical signals given off by killer cells when they recognize SIV, Bianca noticed that the three healthy macaques each had killer cells capable of recognizing three distinct pieces, or epitopes, of the virus. Each macaque’s immune system was recognizing the same three virus epitopes. These three sets of killer cells were making strong antiviral immune responses in each healthy animal. This was the first time three such strong cellular immune responses had been observed in a single infected, nonvaccinated macaque.

Meanwhile, Jason Weinfurter, a senior lab technician, was interested in determining just which MHC “baskets” were present on each macaque’s cells. MHC molecules are encoded by genes that are highly polymorphic: while each human (or macaque) expresses very similar MHC molecules, there are many subtle differences in their structures. With hundreds of different characterized types, the genes encoding MHC molecules are the most diverse known. The precise molecular structure of the MHC “basket” determines whether a piece of protein can fit inside and be presented to the immune system. Since each individual has a different combination of MHC genes, the parts of a virus the individual’s immune system can “see” is also different. Because the MHC molecules determine exactly which parts of a virus are recognized by killer cells, we say that the killer cell response is “restricted” by a particular MHC molecule. The elucidation of this mechanism was so fundamental to immunology that the Nobel Prize was awarded to Rolf Zinkernagel and Peter Daugherty, who discovered it in the 1970s.

 “We wanted to determine how many MHC genes these healthy macaques shared,” Jason said, “to see how much their immune responses could overlap.” He extended a technique developed in our lab to use the sequence of each individual MHC gene to identify all MHC molecule types expressed in an animal. He showed that the three macaques shared genes for two important MHC class I molecules—Mamu-A*01, Mamu-B*17 (after Macaca mulatta). These were the first infected macaques identified as expressing both genes.

Strikingly, the strong killer T cell responses Bianca had identified used either Mamu-A*01 or Mamu-B*17 to recognize virus-infected cells. Our group had previously studied SIV-infected macaques who expressed Mamu-A*01 or Mamu-B*17 singly, and had characterized these three immune responses individually. From our observations in over 50 infected macaques, we knew the Mamu-A*01 molecule enabled its bearer to make strong killer T cell responses to two different proteins of SIV. Similarly, macaques that expressed Mamu-B*17 were able to make one strong killer cell response. These particular immune responses were so common in macaques that expressed the required MHC molecules that we were able to predict their appearance in newly-infected animals.

What was unexpected was that, in the three animals that expressed both MHC molecules, all three possible immune responses were made, and remained strong. Could these killer T cells account for the remarkable ability of these Mamu-A*01/Mamu-B*17-expressing animals to remain healthy despite their AIDS virus infections?

At this point, David O’Connor, Ph.D., pondered whether these three macaques’ immune systems could somehow constrain the notorious mutability of the AIDS virus. Dave and Todd Allen, Ph.D., had shown previously that a strong killer T cell response in SIV-infected macaques, directed against a portion of the viral Tat protein, could eliminate almost all susceptible viruses within a few weeks of infection. However, mutations in the viral epitope recognized by these monkeys allowed the virus to “escape” detection and grow, despite the very strong immune response. The animals in this study all expressed Mamu-A*01, but not Mamu-B*17. In fact, their strong immune response was enabled by the shared Mamu-A*01 molecule. Bianca’s three healthy animals also had Mamu-A*01-restricted killer T cell responses to the same region of SIV.

So far, Dave has detected mutation of Tat in all infected monkeys who express Mamu-A*01. Surprisingly, though, he found virtually no signs of viral mutation in any of Bianca's three Mamu-A*01/Mamu-B*17-positive, healthy animals.

“It was striking to see such a lack of mutation in that epitope,” Bianca said. “It had happened so often before, we felt certain it would occur in all Mamu-A*01-positive animals.” In fact, there was astonishingly little viral variation in these macaques, considering how long they’d been infected. The group hypothesized that the presence of three strong killer T cells together may be analogous to successful pharmaceutical treatments for AIDS, which use three potent drugs to control the virus. By limiting the virus’ ability to reproduce, perhaps an extraordinarily potent immune response, such as that exhibited by our three healthy macaques, can prevent the generation of virus mutants that normally leads to the immune system’s downfall.

Bianca now works at Epimmune, Inc., in San Diego, a leader in the design of epitope-based vaccines. Her important insights into the remarkable health of some macaques with AIDS virus infection has opened the door to exciting avenues of research for many of those still in the lab, including myself. 
 

Just published

Eisner JR, Barnett MA, Dumesic DA, Abbott DH. Ovarian hyperandrogenism in adult female rhesus monkeys exposed to prenatal androgen excess. Fertil and Steril. Jan;77(1):167-172. 2002.

Ginther AJ, Carlson AA, Ziegler TE, Snowdon CT. Neonatal and pubertal development in males of a cooperatively breeding primate, the cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus). Biol. Repro. 66:282-290. 2002.

O’Connor DH, Allen TM, Vogel TU, Jing P, DeSouza IP, Dodds E, Dunphy EJ, Melsaether C, Mothé B, Yamamoto H, Horton H, Wilson N, Hughes AL, Watkins DI. Acute phase cytotoxic T lymphocyte escape is a hallmark of simian immunodeficiency virus infection. Nature Medicine. May; 8(5). 2002.

 O’Connor D, Allen T, Watkins DI. Vaccination with CTL epitopes that escape: an alternative approach to HIV vaccine development? Immunol Lett. Nov 1;79(1-2):77-84. 2001.

Vogel TU, Beer BE, zur Megede J, Ihlenfeldt HG, Jung G, Holzammer S, Watkins DI, Altman JD, Kurth R, Norley S. Induction of anti-simian immunodeficiency virus cellular and humoral immune responses in rhesus macaques by peptide immunogens: correlation of CTL activity and reduction of cell-associated but not plasma virus load following challenge. J Gen Virol. Jan;83(Pt 1):81-91. 2002.

Mothe BR, Horton H, Carter DK, Allen TM, Liebl ME, Skinner P, Vogel TU, Fuenger S, Vielhuber K, Rehrauer W, Wilson N, Franchini G, Altman JD, Haase A, Picker LJ, Allison DB, Watkins DI. Dominance of CD8 responses specific for epitopes bound by a single major histocompatibility complex class I molecule during the acute phase of viral infection. J Virol. Jan;76(2):875-84. 2002.

Peterson JK, Moran F, Conley AJ, Bird IM. Zonal expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase in sheep and rhesus adrenal cortex. Endocrinology. Dec;142(12):5351-63. 2001.
 
Penniston KL, Tanumihardjo SA. Subtoxic hepatic vitamin A concentrations in captive rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). J Nutr. 2001. Nov;131(11):2904-9.
 
Schramm RD, Paprocki AM, Watkins DI. Birth of MHC-defined rhesus monkeys produced by assisted reproductive technology. Vaccine. Nov 12;20(3-4):603-7. 2001.

Weindruch R, Kayo T, Lee CK, Prolla TA. Gene expression profiling of aging using DNA microarrays. Mech. Ageing Dev. 123:177-93. 2002.
 

Gleanings

New grants
Timothy J. Kamp, MD, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine) and James Thomson V.M.D., Ph.D., professor, Department of Anatomy and Primate Center scientist, have received a two-year NIH grant entitled, “Human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.” 

Pam Tannenbaum, Ph.D., received a CONRAD grant March 1, "Evaluation of 1-(2 4-dichorobenzyl)-indazole-3-carbohydrazied (AF2364) as a reversible oral contraceptive agent in male marmoset monkeys, Callithrix jacchus." Co-investigators are David Abbott, Ph.D., and C. Yan Cheng, Ph.D. Contraceptive Research and Development is a nonprofit agency funded by the National Institute of Health and the US Agency for International Development.

Su-Chun Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., and James Thomson, V.M.D., Ph.D., received a two-year grant, "Generation of dopamine neurons from human embryonic stem cells," on Feb. 1 from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

Honor
Christopher Coe, Ph.D., was the PsychoNeuro-immunology Research Society’s Norman Cousins Award recipient for 2001. Coe, who accepted the annual honorary award last May, is active in a dual capacity as president and local host for the next PNIRS meeting, scheduled May 8-11, 2002, in Madison. (See www.pnirs.org).

Promotions
Sandra Alt, Program Assistant 2 to Program Assistant 3, Dec. 16.
Jill Bodden, C.V.T., A.L.A.T., from Vet Tech 1 to Vet Tech 2, Sept. 23.
Ricki Colman, Ph.D., from research associate to assistant scientist, Nov. 1.
James Thomson, V.M.D., Ph.D., from assistant professor to professor of anatomy, Nov. 30.
Deb Werner-Kelln, B.S., C.V.T., from Vet Tech 2 to Vet Tech 3, Sept. 23.
Nancy Wilson, Ph.D., from associate researcher to assistant scientist, Jan. 1.

In the news
Dan Barouch, Ronald DesRosiers, and David Watkins were among prominent HIV researchers explaining the current state of AIDS research in monkeys in the Jan. 17 Wall Street Journal article, “Monkey’s death muddles HIV vaccine hunt as researchers keep focus on inoculations.” David O’Connor, Ph.D., was interviewed for the BioMedNet article, “Radical rethink creates vaccine paradox for HIV,” which ran Dec. 6.

The triptolide research collaboration between WPRC scientists David Abbott and Pam Tannenbaum, and Dr. Vichai Reutrakul of Bangkok’s Mahidol University was featured in the  Wisconsin Alumni Association’s 2001 annual report, “Making a Mark.” Dr. Abbott was also quoted in a New Scientist article on testosterone and behavior in February.

James Thomson, V.M.D., Ph.D., was named one of People Magazine’s 25 Most Intriguing People of 2001. He was also featured in Madison Magazine, the Wisconsin State Journal and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in year-in-review articles.

New staff
Abbott Lab
—Deborah K. Barnett, Ph.D. research associate, Feb. 18.
—Brian Horman, associate research specialist, Feb. 6.

Animal Services
—Kevin G. Brunner, D.V.M. clinical veterinarian, Dec. 1.
—Juan Cortes-Guadalupe, Lab Animal Tech 1, Jan. 27.
—Vezira Hadzic, Lab Animal Tech 1, Dec. 20.
—Adrian Thalasinos, LAT 1, March 21.
—Amy E. Urbanski, B.S., C.V.T., Vet Tech 1, March 26.

Facilities Management
—Joshua Ooyman, LTE (PA2), Oct. 1.

Golos Lab
—Oxana V. Dovzhenko, M.D., associate research specialist, Feb. 25.

Kemnitz/Colman Lab
—Callie Armstrong, B.S., associate research specialist, Feb. 11.

Thomson Lab
—You-chan Kim, Ph.D., research associate, Jan. 15.
—Tenneille Ludwig, Ph.D., postdoctoral trainee, Nov. 5.
—Jamie Sperger, Ph.D., postdoctoral trainee, Nov. 26.
—Thomas Zwaka, M.D., research associate, Feb. 1.

Watkins Lab
—John Loffredo, B.S., research assistant, March 1.
—Adrian McDermott, Ph.D., assistant scientist, Feb. 22.

Departures
—Susan Carlson, M.B.A., Director's Office and Operations, May 17, to UW Comprehensive Cancer Center.
—Carol Emerson, D.V.M., M.S., Animal Services, Dec. 31, to UW Clinical Sciences Center.
—Masahara Mizuno, Ph.D., Terasawa Lab, April 1, to Kyushu University.
—Thorsten Vogel, Ph.D., Watkins lab, Jan. 31, to Aventis Pasteur, Toronto, Canada.