The Unit of Comparative Medicine (UCM) of the Medical Sciences Campus (MSC), University of Puerto Rico (UPR) was established on October 1, 1999. Under the Chancellor’s Office, the UCM serves as an administrative umbrella which oversees three research units: the Animal Resources Center (ARC), the Animal Facilities at the Institute of Neurobiology (AFIN), and the Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC) including Cayo Santiago. The unit consolidates these three individual MSC animal research facilities into one campus unit.

All of the UPR, MSC animal facilities are under the same Institutional Assurance Number. Each unit conducts research based on federal standards. The programs for the care and use of laboratory animals at the ARC, AFIN and CPRC are fully accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC). AAALAC uses the standards outlined in the “Guide for the Care and Use of Animals” and the amended “Animal Welfare Act” as the minimum criteria for evaluating research programs using laboratory animals.