An internal audit has prompted corrections of some accounting practices at the California Regional Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis. The auditors, supervised by Abby Zubov, director of UC Davis Internal Audit Services, performed a detailed review of the primate center's administration of three years of privately sponsored drug studies. The audit reviewed 33 such privately funded studies conducted between July 1, 1997, and May 31, 2000, with budgets totaling about $4.8 million. In its most important conclusions, the audit reported that between $100,269 and $226,229, or 2 to 4.7 percent, of the costs of those private studies had been erroneously paid from state and federal grant funds. It also concluded that federal monies that were intended to pay about half of the primate center director's salary were not used for that purpose. No funds were found to be missing or to have been spent inappropriately. Nevertheless, the university will self-report the accounting lapses to the federal funding agency, the National Institutes of Health. Of the primate center's approximately $13 million annual operating budget, about half is funded by NIH. In response to the audit, university administrators have ordered these corrective actions: -- The primate center will reimburse publicly funded accounts as necessary by March 1, 2001. -- Researchers will be trained on the correct procedures for charging salaries and benefits to contracts and grants by Feb. 1, 2001. -- The primate center will pay its director with federal funds received for that purpose, beginning immediately. "We look forward to the implementation of improved accounting practices that will assist staff in their work," said John Meyer, UC Davis vice chancellor for resource management and planning, who oversees Internal Audit Services. "We will implement the audit recommendations and take the actions necessary to ensure that all fundamental concerns are properly resolved," said Dallas Hyde, interim director of the primate center since June. During its review, Internal Audit Services identified some lack of clarity and some conflicts in the policy guidance provided to university managers conducting industry-sponsored drug studies. To address those concerns, the UC Davis provost has appointed a task force to review the university's policies and procedures governing such studies and to make recommendations for improvements. The report is due to the provost by March 31, 2001. The California Regional Primate Research Center was established at UC Davis in June 1962. It is one of eight such regional centers assisting more than 1,200 scientists who use nonhuman primates as the most appropriate animal models for studies of AIDS, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, asthma, osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases and many other human health problems.