[5][6] The Field Station is a part of the Emory National Primate Research Center, houses 3,400 animals, specializes in behavioral studies of primate social groups, and is located 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Atlanta[7] on 117 acres (47 ha) of wooded land.
[9] Researchers are also leading programs to better understand the aging process, pioneer organ transplant procedures and provide safer drugs to organ transplant recipients, determine the behavioral effects of hormone replacement therapy, prevent early onset vision disorders and shed light on human behavioral evolution.
The center's proposal to do AIDS-related research on endangered sooty mangabey monkeys drew opposition from numerous primatologists, including Jane Goodall.
[17] Griffin apparently became infected after a fluid exposure to the eye which occurred while helping to move a caged rhesus macaque at the Field Station.
A necropsy revealed that the macaque was sick as a result of a piece of gauze being left in his abdomen during surgery, which caused adhesions and intestinal obstruction.
[24] In August 2021, a female macaque died after her leg got caught in a gap in the wall of her housing facility.
[25] In October 2021, the USDA reported that the center had not properly cleaned food waste from several macaque housing enclosures.