HIV Vaccines Make Major Advance Toward "Holy Grail" Antibody Response
August 20, 2026
Dr. Cynthia Derdeyn For 40 years, HIV vaccine researchers have chased a particular kind of antibody: one that could recognize the virus no matter how much it mutates. Three new studies in Nature, described in a companion analysis co-written by WaNBRC's Dr. Cynthia Derdeyn, show that scientists can now reliably coax the immune system toward…
WaNBRC’s Orsborn Earns Fulbright, Will Study Learning and Movement in Portugal
August 10, 2026
Dr. Amy Orsborn, core scientist at Washington National Biomedical Research Center and professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Washington, has been named a 2026-2027 Fulbright Scholar. She's one of eight UW faculty and staff selected for the honor this year. She'll use her award to study at the Champalimaud Institute for…
WaNBRC Joins Statement Concerning CDC Plan to Move Monkeys
May 28, 2026
The Washington National Biomedical Research Center signed onto the following position statement to Jay Bhattacharya, Director of the National Institutes of Health and concurrently serving as Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) regarding the CDC's announced plan to transfer 160 of its monkeys to a Texas sanctuary: Acting Director Centers for Disease…
How NAMs and Primates Create Future Cures
May 27, 2026
Science fiction is becoming reality at the Washington Biomedical Research Center. We’re at the forefront of innovating New Approach Methodologies, or NAMs. Two examples of these advanced tools include artificial neural networks and three-dimensional printed organs which test medical treatments before they reach a living body. But as powerful as they are, these models can’t advance cures alone. Nonhuman primates are still essential…
WaNBRC Director On the Future of mRNA Vaccine Research
May 18, 2026
More than five years after mRNA vaccines helped change the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, questions are emerging about what comes next for one of modern medicine’s most promising technologies. In a recent feature by The Scientist, WaNBRC Director Deborah H. Fuller, PhD, offers her perspective on the future of mRNA vaccine research, and why…
Hi-Def Eye Tracking Made Accessible
April 23, 2026
For years, scientists studying vision faced a problem: the tools used to track eye movements were either invasive and prone to failure or too imprecise for high-level research. Standard noninvasive methods track the center of the pupil and corneal reflections and compare their positions to estimate the direction of the gaze. But they frequently overestimated…
Platform Bridges Gap to Human Brain Therapies
April 7, 2026
Dr. Azadeh Yazdan-Shahmorad Researchers at the Washington National Biomedical Research Center have developed a long-sought technological "toolbox" that allows scientists to control and monitor brain activity with light in non-human primates for years at a time, a breakthrough expected to bridge the gap between basic laboratory research and life-saving human medicine. The study, published in…
Bridging Generations: WaNBRC Launches Annual Nepal Field Course
March 19, 2026
The 7th Annual Field Course in Conservation Biology and Global Health wraps up this week at the Nepal Engineering College in Lalitpur. This year’s program marks a significant milestone as it is the first field course for Dr. Matthew Novak in his new role as Unit Director for Global Programs at the Washington National Biomedical…
New Name; Same Mission
February 13, 2026
Seattle, WA — One of the nation’s leading NIH-funded research institutions has a new name. The Washington National Primate Research Center is now the Washington National Biomedical Research Center (WaNBRC), a change that more accurately reflects the full breadth of scientific approaches used across its research programs. “Since 1961, our center has contributed to major advances…
WaNPRC Researchers Discover Endurance Immune Cells to Fight Cancer Relapse
February 3, 2026
For thousands of patients battling blood cancers like lymphoma or leukemia, CAR-T cell therapy feels like a finish line. Doctors harvest a patient’s own immune cells, genetically engineer them to hunt cancer, and return them to the body to run them down. But for more than 60% of patients, the race doesn’t go as planned. …