November 2019
Success
SNPRC Hosts National Nonhuman Primate Models for AIDS Symposium

Researchers from all over the country converged on San Antonio this month for the 37th Annual Symposium of the Nonhuman Primate Models for AIDS. The Southwest National Primate Research Center on the Texas Biomed campus is one of only 7 in the country. Pathologists, virologists, immunologists and veterinarians work on the HIV disease in monkeys in order to facilitate the development of new methods of treatment, control and prevention of AIDS in people!
Innovation
Forum Funds Pilot Projects Testing Novel New Approaches

The Texas Biomedical Forum is an independent, non-profit association dedicated to promoting the life-saving work of Texas Biomed. Using money raised at its annual gala, the Forum sponsors one-year pilot projects that help scientists prove concepts that can lead to subsequent and often significant federal funding of research. With more than $200,000 in grants this year, selected researchers will be looking into gene splicing and immunity, CRISPR for gene editing targeting HIV, host-directed therapy for TB, a new field test for TB, and using molecular tools to understand more about the mechanisms of diseases spread by rodents. To read more about all of the projects funded by the Forum grants, click here ..
Collaboration 
San Antonio Researchers Band Together to Target Bladder Cancer

The San Antonio Medical Foundation (SAMF) has awarded Texas Biomed Professor Jordi B. Torrelles, Ph.D., with a $173,000 grant to study a modified Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette et GuĂ©rin (BCG) vaccine shown to have promise for treating bladder cancer. Scientists anticipate that direct injection of a modified version of this vaccine into bladder cancer tumors will reduce recurrence and progression of cancer. They are hopeful this approach will enable therapy for bladder cancer that does not involve removal of the bladder. Dr. Torrelles predicts this will be game-changing for those who suffer from bladder cancer. To read more about it, click here.
Education
Forum Hosts Most High School Tours Ever
 
Since 1970, the women of the Texas Biomedical Forum have been working to educate the South Texas community about the groundbreaking work that is ongoing at Texas Biomed. This school year, the Forum is hosting a record number of tours on our campus, exposing these bright students to the exciting possibility of a career in science. This month, junior and senior students from Saint Mary's Hall learned about drug resistance in the malaria parasite and the mechanics behind running and maintaining a Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory!
New Podcasts
TXBioBytes from Texas Biomed

 

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Contact:
Wendy Rigby
Media and Communications Specialist
8715 W. Military Dr., San Antonio, TX 78227
wrigby@txbiomed.org