Mission

The Primate Brain Bank is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting brain research by providing high-quality sustainable tissue from a large variety of primates. All the tissue is obtained in an animal friendly manner that involves donations from organisations such as zoos or animal parks, from animals that have either died from natural causes, or had to be euthanised for reasons unrelated to the tissue collection.

Policies

The following statements are meant as information only.

  • No animal will be sacrificed for the purpose of providing brain material to the Primate Brain Bank.

  • As a rule, the Primate Brain Bank preserves brains by means of perfusion with formaldehyde. The brains are stored at 4oC in a buffered sucrose solution. Please see our protocols for more details.

  • The fast preservation of brain material after an animal has died is a costly process. Most of the costs are incurred by transporting the animal as quickly as possible and by the labour involved in fixing the brain. The funding of the Primate Brain Bank cannot fully cover these costs. The Primate Brain Bank therefore requests applicants to financially contribute to its functioning. The Scientific Advisory Board sets the amount of the contribution depending on the number of granted specimens, the size of the specified areas and the possibility to re-use the brain (e.g. non-invasive imaging). As a general rule, prospective applicants should count on €1000 for each requested whole brain sample which is to be completely used.

  • The Primate Brain Bank strives to reduce the post mortem delay (PMD) to a minimum. However, potential applicants should realise that it is not always possible to achieve a short PMD.

  • Upon request, the Primate Brain Bank will divert from the standard preservation procedures, and brains can be preserved and stored as specified by the applicant. The Primate Brain Bank will try to preserve the requested materials using the requested methods as soon as an opportunity arises. The Primate Brain Bank will charge the applicant for all costs involved.

  • As no animals will be sacrificed for the purpose of providing material to the Primate Brain Bank, it may take time for material to become available after we have received your request. See our Available in stock section for material readily available.

  • The Primate Brain Bank will only provide brain material to accredited scientific institutions. Applications to obtain material stored by the Primate Brain Bank should be accompanied by a project description of the study. The Primate Brain Bank will use the provided project description, as well as the relevance of the material requested for the research proposed, in its decision on an application. Referees will be consulted, if deemed necessary by the Primate Brain Bank.

  • The Primate Brain Bank aims to arrive at a decision on applications within 4 weeks.

  • Upon completion of the study, the Primate Brain Bank will require a report stating the results and conclusions of the study, the Primate Brain Bank will be properly acknowledged in all publications deriving from the work it has provided material for, and will receive a reprint of all such publications.

For more information, please contact us.