May 2018  
Success
Scientists in high containment labs at Texas Biomed use protective gear when they work with Ebola virus.
Texas Biomed Scientists Prove Vaccine for Ebola and Marburg is Feasible

In an effort to find a way to protect people from several deadly diseases with one injection, Texas Biomed scientists recently published a study showing it is feasible to design a vaccine that would protect people from different strains of Ebola and Marburg virus. These hemorrhagic fevers take a heavy human toll. Successful early work in nonhuman primates is promising news for people whose location or job puts them at risk for infection. Prophylactic protection is important for aid workers and other professionals who may be called into outbreak areas -- like Africa (2014-2016) when Ebola virus claimed more than 11,000 lives. The epidemic killed 36 times more people than any other Ebola outbreak in history.
Innovation

Marmosets could be important models for Zika vaccine testing.
Tackling Zika: A Team Effort

In order to find vaccines and treatments for new viruses like Zika, scientists need effective animal models. Virologists, microbiologists, primatologists and OB/GYNs from Texas Biomed, the University of California at San Francisco, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and the University of Illinois at Chicago teamed up on a newly-published research project. Their study shows small, New World monkeys called marmosets may be an important animal model for emerging human viruses with the potential for harmful effects on fetuses. The animals are part of a colony of 300 marmosets at the Southwest Primate Research Center.
Collaboration 
Guests were greeted by beautiful butterflies.
2018 Texas Biomedical Forum Gala a Huge Success
   
On a warm Saturday evening in early May, hundreds of Texas Biomed supporters gathered at The Argyle for a Forum fundraiser in support of our scientists. The theme was Mariposa -- the Spanish word for butterfly. The gathering was a celebration of the hope and promise of life-saving research at the Institute. One of the recent pilot projects funded by the proceeds from the Gala is a study involving the transplantation of specialized cells into the retina to preserve vision for people who suffer from age-related macular degeneration and retinitis Pigmentosa.
Education
Girls ages 6-16 flocked to the Texas Biomed tables.
Spreading Science to a Younger Generation: Girls Inc.
 
Hundreds of young girls and their families came to Heroes Stadium on Saturday, May 5, 2018, for the 12th Annual Girls Inc. Rockit into the Future Science Festival. The free event celebrates science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). At our hands-on tables, budding scientists got to tease DNA out of strawberries, peer into a microscope to look at malaria, take a virtual look at our high containment lab and create food enrichment bags for our non-human primates!
Listen: New Podcasts
Our Animals are Fascinating!
 
This month, in honor of Biomedical Research Awareness Day (BRAD), we are featuring two of the non-human primates that are critical to our research on our new podcast. Listen to learn about baboons and their 50 years of helping human health and miniature but mighty marmosets. Subscribe to our podcast either through iTunes, Android, Stitcher, TuneIn or by email. Click here to enter your email address and you'll get a new episode in your inbox every two weeks.
Contact:
Wendy Rigby
Media and Communications Specialist
8715 W. Military Dr., San Antonio, TX 78227