Geneticist Eric Vallender, Ph.D., has dedicated his career to exploring big evolutionary questions, primarily: how are humans and our primate relatives similar and different on the molecular level?
“We’ve all heard that humans share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees and yet we’re so different – why is that? What changes in the DNA led to those differences?” Dr. Vallender said.
He brings that curiosity and comparative mindset to Texas Biomedical Research Institute and the Southwest National Primate Research Center, where he has taken on the roles of Professor and Associate Director of Research.
While continuing his own research, a key focus will be helping other scientists across the U.S. tailor their nonhuman primate research; for example, identifying the most appropriate animal models to answer their research questions and maximizing the information gathered from those studies.
He is also looking forward to helping educate others about the critical role animals – especially nonhuman primates – play in improving human health.
“If we can do it in a cell culture dish, we’re going to do it in a cell culture dish,” Dr. Vallender said. “If we can do it in a computer simulation, we’ll do it in a computer simulation. As scientists, we’re going to do it the best and most efficient way that we can do it. We’re not choosing to do nonhuman primate studies arbitrarily – we’re doing it because that is the best and often only way to really answer the question that we’re trying to understand.”
Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, Dr. Vallender was always fascinated by science. He discovered his love of research in college – conducting experiments in the lab were so much more exciting than in the classroom because the outcome was never guaranteed; there were both greater challenges and greater potential for discovery. He completed degrees in both anthropology and biochemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and earned a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Chicago.
Throughout this time, the Human Genome Project to sequence all human DNA was underway and opening new frontiers of study. Dr. Vallender was part of the group that published the first complete rhesus macaque genome, from a female rhesus living at the Southwest National Primate Research Center, helping to compare rhesus to humans and chimps and identify critical differences between them.
“That was really exciting to finally be able to begin comparing entire genomes – not just single genes,” he said. “Now, we can ask questions on scales that, 20 years ago, were not possible.”
Nonhuman primates, as our closest relatives, are especially helpful in improving scientific understanding of human reproductive biology, immunology and the brain. Dr. Vallender is most intrigued by the complexity of the brain and the endless questions that can be asked, from how the human prefrontal cortex evolved to what causes bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression.
“Even a mouse brain or a fruit fly brain is so complicated,” he said. “And the fact that something as simple as DNA, with just four bases, can create the complexity of a brain, and then the brain can generate complex behavior and then our lived experiences – that is just incredible to me. Trying to even get a hint of why that’s the case is so exciting and interesting.”
Prior to SNPRC, Dr. Vallender worked with the New England and Tulane National Primate Research Centers while on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and University of Mississippi Medical Center, respectively. He was drawn to the federally-designated National Primate Research Centers because of the pioneering genomic and comparative studies enabled by such detailed information amassed through generations of primates. SNPRC is particularly unique because it is home to three different pedigreed colonies: marmosets, rhesus macaques and baboons.
“We can ask questions here that literally cannot be asked any place else,” he said.
Since moving to San Antonio in September, Dr. Vallender is especially excited to have joined a team of such engaged and passionate veterinarians, caretakers, technicians, researchers, administrators and senior leaders.
“Everybody is pulling in the same direction and so much positive change is continuing to happen,” he said. “It’s an exciting place to be.”