Photo: Juvenile macaque in restraint chair, photo courtesy of Alabama voice for animals.The lab of Neeraj Gandhi has a long history of causing animal pain and suffering. Interestingly, the University's Institutional Animal Use and Care committee- supposedly responsible for approving "humane" research- is chaired by a coworker of Gandhi's, Bill Yates, who has signed approval letters for Gandhi's research. This can be seen on a grant application of Gandhi's (supplied by SAEN). With people working side by side, signing off on one anothers work, it is not surprising that questionable practices occur. To read more about a research watchdog's accusations against Gandhi for fraudulent research using government funding, click here.
The Gandhi lab uses nonhuman primates in order to study their brains while they make eye movements. In several strikingly similar publications, Gandhi takes juvenile macaque monkeys, performs intensive surgery on them to implant coils in their eyelids and neural recording chambers in their brains, then straps them into full body restraint chairs to have them stare at screens in the dark before being returned to their cages [1,2,3,4,5]. These animals who would normally spend their lives living in groups outdoors, spend their lives in surgeries, in cages, or strapped to restraint chairs performing montonous tasks for research that has been done time and again. They will never see the light of day or ever have a normal life. They suffer in vain for research that doesn't even advance science because of the repetitive nature of research done by the Gandhi lab- all of which is paid for by our tax dollars.
Contact Neeraj Gandhi at neg8@pitt.edu. Work:Phone: (412) 647-3076
Fax: (412) 647-0108
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References
[1] Walton, MMG & Gandhi, NJ. (2006). Behavioral Evaluation of Movement Cancellation. J Neurophysiol. 96. 2011–2024.
[2] Gandhi, NJ & Sparks, DL. (2007). Dissociation of Eye and Head Components of Gaze Shifts by Stimulation of the Omnipause Neuron Region. J Neurophysiol. 98. 360–373.
[3] Walton, MMG, Bechara, B, & Gandhi, NJ. (2007). Role of the Primate Superior Colliculus in the Control of Head Movements. J Neurophysiol. 98. 2022–2037
[4] Gandhi, NJ & Barton, EJ. (2008). Coordination of eye and head components of movements evoked by stimulation of the paramedian pontine reticular formation. Exp Brain Res. 189. 35–47.
[5] Anderson, SR et al. (2009). Dynamics of Primate Oculomotor Plant Revealed by Effects of Abducens Microstimulation. J Neurophysiol. 101. 2907-2923.
