Texas Biomedical Research Institute

Greetings!

As a host sponsor this year, Texas Biomedical Research Institute is excited to welcome you to San Antonio, our birthplace and home for 75 years. Texas Biomed was established in 1941 by Thomas Baker Slick Jr. – a businessman, inventor, oilman, rancher, engineer, philanthropist, peacemaker and adventurer. Motivated by the philosophy that the welfare of mankind could best be advanced through scientific endeavor, he dared to imagine a “city of science” in South Texas. His legacy lives on as Texas Biomed aims to unravel the mysteries of chronic and infectious diseases through innovative thinking, creative problem solving and cutting edge technologies.

We can’t wait for you to meet our scientists and show you around our campus during a tour Sunday afternoon (October 30) from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Texas Biomed is home to some of the nation’s most impressive scientific resources and the only place in the country with a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory, a national primate center and a genomics center all on one campus.

During the tour, attendees will have an opportunity to hear from several scientists, including a geneticist whose most recent projects focus on combining genetic data with outcomes, such as protein and metabolic analyses, to better understand cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk. Guests will then have an opportunity to virtually tour our BSL4 laboratory, touch and feel the suits our scientists wear and meet with one of our infectious disease scientists, Dr. Andrew Hayhurst, who is developing novel antibody engineering approaches to find new routes to detect and inhibit pathogens. His lab has developed llama single domain antibodies (sdAb) specific for Ebola virus and Marburg virus. The visit will close with one of our primate behaviorists providing a driving tour of the Southwest National Primate Research Center and see the various species of primates and their environments. By studying these animals in a controlled environment, scientists can develop a better understanding of the biological processes that underlie and contribute to disease.

In addition to the tour, we will introduce you to our scientists throughout the weekend, including those presenting at New Horizons in Science, Dr. Robert Lanford on nonhuman primates in Hepatitis and liver disease research in a post-chimpanzee era and Drs. Ian Cheeseman and Tim Anderson on malaria and drug resistance. Also presenting at Día de los Cientifícos are Dr. Robert Davey on Ebola virus drug and vaccine efforts with the Southwest Research Institute and Dr. Ruth Ruprecht on new approaches in HIV vaccine research.

We are honored to serve as one of your hosts this year and hope you will enjoy the weekend of learning and fun scientific groups from across our city have planned.

Sincerely,

Lisa Cruz
Texas Biomedical Research Institute