Jon Levine concludes 14 years as Wisconsin National Primate Research Center Director, will continue neuroscience research

Interview by Jordana Lenon

Jon Levine, professor of neuroscience, steps down as director of the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center on Dec. 31, 2024. He plans to continue his research through the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and the WNPRC.

Saverio “Buddy” Capuano, DVM, DACLAM and Associate Director of Animal Services, Attending Veterinarian will serve as as WNPRC Interim Director.

Levine studies reproductive endocrinology and the actions of hormones, such as estrogens and androgens, in the brain. He collaborates with scientists and physicians throughout the United States and internationally. Levine has mentored over 15 post-doctoral trainees, 30 graduate students and scores of undergraduates, both as faculty at Northwestern University and since his appointment at UW–Madison in 2010. Levine is the second-longest serving director in the center’s 64-year history. The WNPRC is part of the National Primate Research Centers program funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Q: What are you most proud of as director?

A: I’m proud of overseeing such a great expansion of our research. When I became director, the NIH was charging the seven National Primate Research Centers with a broader mission than it had in our previous 50 years. Our new emphasis was to be a national resource for not only core center scientists, but for scientists throughout the country. So my mission was to increase collaboration at all levels.

Q: How did you accomplish that mission?

A: One way I did that was to establish our WNPRC scientific working groups. We previously had more siloed research programs with only occasional interactions among people working in similar areas. So I collected together all the neuroscientists, all those working in reproductive and regenerative medicine, those working in energy metabolism and chronic disease, and everyone working in global infectious disease. I charged these groups with holding in-person work-in-progress meetings. Scientists would present their work, receive feedback and develop collaborations. We still have those four groups today. They have been a catalyst for enriching our research portfolio, increasing the number of our collaborators, launching new grant proposals, and increasing the success of our grant applications. They’ve also generated proposals related to commonly used equipment and procedures. For example, we recently received a large grant through the UW–Madison Research Forward Competition to establish in vivo neuronal activity imaging for our neuroscience research working group.

Secondly, our Office of Research and Infrastructure Programs at the NIH oversaw the development of a more integrated consortium among the seven NPRCs. I’m proud of my participation in that effort. In addition to increased research collaborations, we developed working groups among our service units and animal care programs. We gained an exchange of expertise and efficiency that brought us up to the gold standard in these areas. With the help of our NPRC public relations and outreach consortiums, we also developed our websites nprc.org and nprcresearch.org.

Q: What are some additional advancements at the WNPRC that you supported?

A: I oversaw the expansion and adaptation of our WNPRC Scientific Protocol and Implementation Unit. SPI is our engine of collaboration. This team of research support experts has enabled us to advance studies by not only our core scientists, but national affiliates, especially in infectious diseases, such as HIV, COVID-19 and Zika. The result has been a stunning increase in the number and quality of research studies. SPI has supported research by scientists and physicians at UW–Madison, other universities, clinics and companies. They’ve helped advanced therapies for kidney disease, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease and more.

Q: What was your favorite part of the job?

A: I have enjoyed discussing new ideas with investigators and lending my support to their funding applications. There really is no better feeling than to see your colleagues succeed. This is the part of the job I get most excited about; it’s not only securing my own research funding, but encouraging, facilitating, encouraging and supporting all investigators. It’s particularly satisfying when you see young investigators pull in some of their first grants and launch their programs. So I think my favorite part of the job has been mentoring junior scientists. I’m also very proud of helping recruit some outstanding new faculty and providing the resources, space and tools for them to succeed.

What scientific advances can we look forward to in the coming years?

A: We are sequencing the genomes of our animal colonies, as well as those elsewhere, and identifying gene variants that may be associated with human disorders and diseases. We’re using the latest techniques in single cell transcriptomics to analyze brain cells during development. We’re looking at their expression patterns, their interactions, and changes on their gene expression profiles right through to development. So we’re gaining a new understanding of how the brain works. We hope to gain a thorough understanding of the developmental patterns of individual cell types that, when impaired or affected by altered gene mutations, may give rise to neurodevelopmental and other diseases.

Our collaborations with Waisman Center investigators are yielding new information that reveals how certain cells and genes may develop in fetal life and how, when their development is impaired, this may give rise to autism spectrum disorders and other conditions. This is a very exciting frontier that can only be discovered with nonhuman primates because they are the only animals that have a prefrontal cortex like ours and this is where we believe many of these neurodevelopment disorders originate.

Q: What has been the center’s greatest challenge?

A: Maintaining sufficient funding through our base grant from the NIH. Unfortunately, we’ve had stagnant funding even though there is critical demand for the use of our colonies in critically important research projects necessary to advance treatment options for AIDS, COVID-19, Alzheimer’s disease and more.

That has put enormous pressure on us to develop and maintain the level of services that we need to support high impact research projects. We’ve managed to keep our services within a reasonable cost range for independent investigators, but it’s becoming more difficult. We rely on this support to continue providing the contributions to human health advances that people depend on, not just in the United States, but throughout the world.

People opposed to biomedical research still say that we have computers, we have sequenced the human genome, we already have all the tools we need to advance human health. But I say that the humane use of animals in research is indispensable for understanding the underlying causes of human diseases and the development of therapies to treat these diseases. While alternative methods can support these studies, we are not at a point where any of those can substitute for the use of animals such as nonhuman primates, which are the best models for preclinical treatments before they can move safely into humans.

Q: What is your next exciting endeavor?

A:  I’ve been very excited, along with my collaborator Dr. David Abbott, about our discovery of a subset of rhesus monkeys that naturally develop polycystic ovarian syndrome, a widespread reproductive and metabolic disorder in women. I’m very excited about continuing these studies to look at the genetic and pathophysiological basis of PCOS as we continue to work with doctors to improve treatments for the disorder.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

A: I’m just so proud of our people at the Primate Center; the amazing science and animal care that results from the outstanding support our center provides, our top-notch faculty recruitments, and the groundbreaking papers published from members of all of our working groups. I’m just thrilled to see scientists completing, publishing and making major contributions to their fields.

Jon’s colleagues comment on his directorship:

“Jon leaves behind a remarkable legacy of working with center scientists to expand and enrich WNPRC research in precision medicine, genomic resources, and regenerative and reproductive medicine.”  — Igor Slukvin, MD, PhD

 

“Jon has a laidback style, yet he is a very effective leader. Along with Dave Abbott, Jon and I are in the same research field of reproductive neuroendocrinology. As such, I often encounter Jon’s work in rodents before his arrival in the WNPRC; he has been an excellent scientist in this field for a long time and I am happy to hear that he will remain here and continue his research.”  —Ei Terasawa, PhD

 

“Jon has achieved a great deal as director. In addition to conducting his own research and mentoring students, Jon hired several key faculty members at the Primate Center. He also oversaw critical infectious disease research facilities and animal facilities expansions along with Dr. Buddy Capuano, associate director of animal services.  — David Evans, PhD