Texas Biomedical Research Institute

The Texas Biomed Association of Trainees welcomed Dr. Peter Hotez MD PhD, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine to Texas Biomed on Friday. As co-director of the Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development, Dr. Hotez is leading the development of new vaccines for hookworm infection, schistosomiasis, Chagas disease and other diseases that affect millions of children and adults worldwide. He was nominated for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing low-cost COVID-19 vaccines.   Thank you Dr. Hotez for spending time with our trainees and early career researchers, from research assistants to grad students, post docs and staff scientists, as well as meeting with faculty, to exchange ideas and inspiration about vaccine development. w/ Crystal Bolden-Rush, Ph.D., Lakmini Premadasa, PhD, Marija D., Armando Mendez, MS, CPH

This week, we kicked off the holiday season with the Texas Biomedical Forum discussing how we can stay well all through the year. Drs. Eusondia Arnett, Gregory C. Ippolito, Larry Schlesinger and Riti Sharan, Ph.D. discussed The Immunity Advantage and strengthening our defenses against infection and disease at The Forum's holiday party.

Our top bird flu experts Luis Martinez-Sobrido and Ahmed M. Elsayed shared insights about the H5N1 virus and holiday season for a WebMD story. 🦃 Turkey at your Thanksgiving meal is safe. Chickens and turkeys infected with H5N1 fall ill very quickly so would not make it to commercial food processing. If you are hunting your own turkey - make sure to handle with gloves, mask and goggles. Wash your hands. Cooking to internal temp of 165F will kill any remaining virus. 🐄 To date in the U.S. this year, there have 55 human infections of bird flu H5N1, which showed up in dairy cattle in the U.S. for the first time this spring and has been detected in an increasing number of mammals. So far it seems that this strain is causing relatively mild illness in people, ranging from pink eye to flu-like symptoms and pneumonia, though one teenager in Canada remains critically ill. Other strains of bird flu have historically been far deadlier. 💉 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that the threat to the general public remains low and is monitoring for H5N1 spread. The CDC has H5N1 #vaccines ready for mass production should the virus evolve to transmit between humans and spread easily like seasonal flu. 🦙 One way to protect yourself and your kids from not just bird flu but other types of influenza is to avoid petting zoos with farm animals. “They can be infected with a lot of influenza, not only this H5N1, but other subtypes circulating,” said Dr. Martinez-Sobrido. #influenza #birdflu #virus #bioscience #Texas #SATX #SanAntonio #turkey https://lnkd.in/gcW25NEP

Thank you Masters Leadership Program of Greater San Antonio for spending part of your day with us at Texas Biomed. It is inspiring to connect with so many passionate individuals dedicated to making our community a better place through service and nonprofit leadership. Texas Biomed President/CEO Larry Schlesinger presented an overview of our research and then the group visited two of our lab areas to get a first-hand feel for the work we do to protect the world from infectious diseases. #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #SATX #SanAntonio #science

Texas Biomed's Interdisciplinary NexGen TB Research Advancement Center (IN-TRAC) has been busy in recent weeks with motivational and community engagement activities. TB researchers, including Professor Jordi Torrelles and members of his lab, participated in the Run for the Mission: Race to End Tuberculosis. The #RaceToEndTB supported the TEXAS CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE (TCID), which treats patients with #tuberculosis and Hansen's disease in #SanAntonio. Texas Biomed recently hosted the IN-TRAC Patient Conference, which provides a unique opportunity for patients and their families to share their experiences with #TB with researchers who study TB in the lab. And, IN-TRAC leaders gathered with external advisors to discuss plans for the center, which is funded by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and aims to attract and train up-and-coming #TB researchers. We are inspired through these ongoing collaborations that together we can tackle this disease. w/ Lisa Armitige, Blanca I Restrepo, Shu-Hua Wang, Riti Sharan, Ph.D., Smriti Mehra, Crystal Bolden-Rush, Ph.D., Kim Olsen, Alyssa Schami, PhD, Ruby Escobedo

As Texas Biomed Association of Trainees executive board, it was an honor to invite and host Dr. Georgia Tomaras from Duke University for a seminar at Texas Biomedical Research Institute. Her invaluable work on HIV, TB, and malaria vaccine research is truly inspiring. #TexasBiomed #VaccineResearch #HIV #tuberculosis #malaria

Today, in #IAmTexasBiomed, meet Oscar Rodriguez, Vivarium Manager at Texas Biomed. Oscar joined Texas Biomed as an animal caretaker and quickly showed his willingness and ability to take on a leadership role. He is also an active member of the Employee Activities Committee, helping coordinate fun events that bring our campus community together throughout the year. He is the walking definition of a #teamplayer and together, #WeAreTexasBiomed. Learn more about growth opportunities: https://lnkd.in/dtpYi-cZ #science #research #jobs #SATX #SanAntonio

Researchers at Texas Biomed have recently received five The National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants totaling more than $23 million to study fundamental mechanisms and innovative solutions to treat #tuberculosis (TB) and #HIV. The projects involve exploring the complex genetic interplay of host and virus, testing host-directed therapies and a new TB vaccine, searching for small molecule targets to fight TB and investigating how HIV changes the lung environment and earliest stages of TB infection. #TBvaccine #TB #genetics #R01grant #research w/ Diako Ebrahimi, Ph.D. https://lnkd.in/gW2_xu9R

Look at all those volunteers! 🙌 Texas Biomed turned out in force at the San Antonio Food Bank last week and had a great time working together fighting hunger and feeding hope! #SATX #SanAntonio #volunteering

🙌 We whole-heartedly agree with Elizabeth! We are proud to partner with UT Health San Antonio, The University of Texas at San Antonio and Southwest Research Institute on the Vaccine Development Center of San Antonio and see the next generation of scientists exchanging knowledge and innovation in #vaccine research. #SATX #SanAntonio #biomedical #research #science #conference