In late July, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Lacreuse Lab posted a statement on its website that the lab, which studied cognitive decline and sex differences in aging using non-human primates, is shutting down.
The lab had been spotlighted by a four-year-long People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) campaign. The animal-rights organization also announced the closure in a press release stating, “VICTORY! Miserable UMass Marmoset Laboratory Closes Following Four-Year PETA Campaign.”
In a statement, Dr. Agnés Lacreuse, the lab’s principal investigator and UMass professor of psychological and brain science, cited the reasons for the closure as “current efforts to destroy science and slash research funding [which] undermine my ability to provide continued support for nonhuman primate research at UMass.”
She said that the closure is unrelated to the PETA campaign, but rather, a result of President Donald Trump administration’s grander federal defunding of research.
“The anti-science climate and funding cuts of the current administration are the main reasons that motivated my decision,” Lacreuse said. “I’m conducting sex differences and women’s health research, and these are not priority funding areas.”
PETA Chief Scientist Dr. Katherine Roe said that Lacreuse’s explanation was a way for her to “save face.”
“She would never want to admit that she has caused irreparable harm to animals while failing to advance science, nor would she be willing to credit PETA’s role in shutting down her lab,” Roe said. “Clearly, with the fiasco of her sleep disruption experiments being shifted to the University of Wisconsin–Madison for a time, only to fail there as well, Lacreuse has recognized that she has not delivered on her promises to the [National Institutes of Health] (NIH).”
Lacreuse still maintains that her reasons are unrelated to the campaign., saying, “PETA is totally irrelevant,” continuing, “I fought the disinformation campaign of that organization for 4 years. Why would I quit now?”
Director of Animal Care Services at UMass, Michael Esmail, said that “it is a difficult moment that researchers, animal researchers, and non-animal researchers are facing right now, based on the federal government’s priorities.”
The lack of federal funding, primarily through the NIH, is affecting labs and projects within UMass and around the country.
Associate Vice Chancellor of Research and Engagement, Dr. Jesse Mager, said UMass is navigating the defunding as best as possible, but “it’s pretty stressful for all people involved.”
“The truth is, labs close with some frequency. Funding runs out, investigators switch directions, it’s a normal thing that happens,” Mager said. “This one happened to be very high profile.”
Mager also said that his department and the provost are assembling a Research Continuity Emergency Matching Fund (ResCoE), which would financially support cancelled funds and supplement the incomes of researchers at UMass with cancelled funding.
In late April, PETA reported a court settlement with the university after suing UMass in 2022 for public records from the Lacreuse Lab.
“The case was settled in PETA’s favor, with UMass to give up all information regarding experiments with the marmosets, including photos and videos. The university will also pay PETA $50,000 for legal fees,” according to the April report.
“[Non-Human Primate (NHP)] research requires major funding, and I can’t do this anymore, especially alone, without a core of NHP researchers at UMass. I feel sorry for the students, as working with the marmosets was certainly a rare privilege, the best experience a student could have here,” Lacreuse said.
She continued saying, “Our research continues, just without the animals.”
Sheryl Becker, founder of the Western Massachusetts Animal Rights Advocates (WMARA), said she and other local animal rights groups are “elated” at the news of the closing, but said, “until we know [the monkeys’] location, none of us can rest.”
UMass representatives declined to comment on what will happen to the marmoset colony after the closure.
Bella Ishanyan can be reached at [email protected]. Kavya Sarathy can be reached at [email protected].
date: 2025-08-16 23:38:00