Txbiobytes From Texas Biomed

  Biofilm is a thin, slimy film of bacteria. Daniel Wozniak, Ph.D., of The Ohio State University is a recognized expert in the field of infectious diseases. Recently, he visited Texas Biomed as the keynote speaker at the Research Symposium 2019. Dr. Wozniak is looking for new ways to treat stubborn infections that often make life miserable for patients or ultimately claim their lives. These secondary infections are the kinds of diseases caused by bacteria that often plague vulnerable patients. He specializes in the kinds of infections suffered by patients with cystic fibrosis and wound care patients. Daniel Wozniak, Ph.D., served as keynote speaker at Texas BIomed's Research Symposium 2019. Bacteria that cause chronic infections in patients create problems that add up to more than $25 billion dollars in health care every year in the U.S. Part of Dr. Wozniak's work focuses on biofilms which are microorganisms that are attached to a surface, play a critical role in infectious diseases. They are innately r

Dr. Larry Schlesinger visited India in Feb. 2019. The President and CEO of Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Dr. Larry Schlesinger, is a physician researcher who is a leader in his field – infectious diseases and tuberculosis in particular. He recently traveled to India to visit one of the many places across the globe where TB has a huge impact. The 8th annual RePORT India Joint Leadership Meeting was held in Chennai, India, February 4-6, 2019.

Dr. Jordi Torrelles meets with future collaborators on a 2019 trip to Africa. Tuberculosis is the deadliest infectious disease in the world: tuberculosis. Somewhere in the world, a person dies of TB every 21 seconds. Africa is a continent full of supreme beauty. Sadly, it is also a continent facing some intense health crises. Imagine trying to test for TB in areas where there may not be electricity of even running water. One of Texas Biomed’s TB researchers traveled to three countries Africa in early 2019 to create collaborations to help test a cheaper, faster, easier way to detect the disease and pinpoint the best course of treatment. Many parts of Africa are still wild and home to spectacular animals. While he was in Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa, Professor Jordi Torrelles, Ph.D., spent much of his time talking to people at various clinics and research facilities. Working in collaboration with these groups, Dr. Torrelles is planning to have samples from some of the many TB patients in this regi

This technology would help clinicians tailor therapies. (Photo courtesy of Josh Parks) A collaboration of scientists including Texas Biomedical Research Institute’s Professor Jean Patterson, Ph.D., are working on a new way to detect Zika virus that will help guide clinicians in their treatment of patients with the disease. The new technology will screen bodily fluids such as blood, urine or semen, for the presence of the virus. The experimental diagnostic tool will also help pinpoint the stage of the disease in those infected. Researchers at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Brigham Young University, and the University of California at Berkeley developed the technology that is now being tested to see if it is effective. Electrical engineering Professor Holger Schmidt, Ph.D., of UC Santa Cruz is one of the leading researchers testing the technology, which he describes as “a lab on a chip.” Texas Biomed’s role in this scientific advancement is to provide knowledge about the virus and viral material

Childhood obesity is one of the most pressing public health issues of our time. Now, with the help of a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Associate Professor Melanie Carless, Ph.D., is using the field of epigenetics to study this nagging problem. Dr. Carless will look at the way DNA, RNA, and proteins are affected by both the environment and genetic makeup to impact the risk of obesity. Melanie Carless, Ph.D. Two Texas Biomed researchers are collaborating with Dr. Carless. Associate Professor Tiziano Barberi, Ph.D., is lending his expertise in the development of pluripotent stem cells. Associate Professor Shelley Cole, Ph.D., is helping with the date from the cohort of 900 Texas Hispanic children used in the study.  

Raul Bastarrachea, MD, and Jack Kent, Ph.D. Texas Biomedical Research Institute scientists have been granted funding from the National Institutes of Health to pursue a promising study on the ultimate causes of heart disease and metabolic disorders. Principal Investigators Raul A. Bastarrachea, MD, and Jack W. Kent Jr., Ph.D., of Texas Biomedical Research Institute have designed the GEMM Family Study (Genetics of Metabolic Diseases in Mexico or Genética de las Enfermedades Metabólicas en México). The GEMM Family Study examines volunteers from 10 university hospital sites in Mexico. Blood samples and tissue samples collected from participants are analyzed at Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. Healthy adults provide baseline blood samples and muscle biopsies at fasting. Then, they are given what’s called a meal challenge. The volunteers eat 30 percent of what their bodies need for their individual daily energy needs based on their Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) and activity level. If their

Samples from nonhuman primates make up the tissue bank at the SNPRC. In the Hixon Hospital, drawers upon drawers hold thousands of animal tissue samples. Protected in wax, this collection is a valuable resource for Texas Biomed scientists and researchers at other institutions that participate in a tissue sharing program. Scientists who wrote a recent article published in the Journal of Medical Primatology titled “Papio Spp. Colon microbiome and its link to obesity in pregnancy” used tissue samples from the Southwest National Primate Research Center to test a hypothesis: Are there changes in the kinds of bacteria found in obese animals versus normal weight animals? Could those differences influence the outcome of pregnancy? Obese women at are increased risk of a number of pregnancy complications including gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and the need for a cesarean delivery. Edward Dick, Jr., D.V.M., is a veterinary pathologist at the SNPRC who is one of the authors of the article. He explains “the micr

Macaques are used for Ebola research.© Clem Spalding 210-271-7273 When you hear the phrase “natural history” – what comes to mind? A display at a museum? A college course? At Texas Biomed, natural history means a certain kind of study that tracks the course of an infectious disease Associate Scientist Ricardo Carrion, Jr., Ph.D., serves as the Director of Maximum Containment Contract Research. He explains that documenting the course of a disease -- in this case, Ebola virus --in a nonhuman primate helps make sure the monkey is a good and accurate model. Ricardo Carrion, Jr., Ph.D. The FDA will use these animal models to evaluate experimental Ebola vaccines and therapeutics that come through the pipeline. The federal government characterizes Ebola as a high priority threat. That’s why money is being invested – to protect people – with either a vaccine or a therapeutic if the virus happened to come into the United States, as it did in 2014 when two nurses in Dallas contracted the disease from a patient with

Ebola VirusNIH Image Gallery Can an infection with a parasitic disease increase the risk of developing a deadly virus? That's the question under study at Texas Biomed, where Staff Scientist Olena Shtanko, Ph.D. is conducting work as part of a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Olena Shtanko, Ph.D. The hypothesis under study is that people who have acute malarial infection may experience some protective effects against Ebola infection. On the flip side, patients who have been infected with malaria but are no longer in the acute phase of the disease may be more susceptible to Ebola infection. Knowing whether this is true could lead to more targeted therapies and also open the door to new discoveries about the interplay of other infectious diseases. Ebola and malaria are both endemic in Africa.

Marie-Claire Gauduin, Ph.D. Growing up in Africa, Marie-Claire Gauduin, Ph.D. witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. She decided to study science and work on ways to combat this global killer. Her heart still breaks for the way the African people have suffered in the AIDS epidemic. HIV Infecting a Human CellCourtesy: NIH Image Gallery Now, as a Texas Biomed scientist, she is studying ways to combat HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Dr. Gauduin and her team came up with a patented way to create a vaccine. It's a genetically-engineered vaccine strategy to prevent HIV infection that targets the outer layers of body structures that are the first site of contact for the virus. Designed to be a single dose that lasts a lifetime, the vaccine will lead to the continual production of disease-fighting cells without being eliminated by the immune system. The experimental vaccine is directed to what are known as the musocal layers of the epithelium in the genital and rectal area

Photo by Kathy West Studios The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is appointed in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act and the Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. But it’s more passion than legal obligation that guides this group. The IACUC Committee at Texas Biomed makes extraordinary efforts to ensure the nonhuman primates that the more than 2,000 monkeys that live at the Southwest National Primate Research Center on our campus have the best care possible. Not only people who work here, but lay people from the community as well help make important decisions about the research conducted on our campus involving the use of animals. Photo by Kathy West Studios

Xue Li, Ph.D., Shalini Nair, and Tim Anderson, Ph.D. Malaria is worldwide scourge infecting 200 million people around the world and killing more than 400,000 of them. The parasite is carried by the Anopheles mosquito, particularly in tropical areas like Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Texas Biomed scientists are “particularly interested in the evolution of drug resistance,” said Scientist Tim Anderson, Ph.D., adding that it is “a recurring problem in controlling tropical diseases.” Artemisinin is a recently discovered drug that is the gold standard for treating malaria, considered instrumental in reducing the number of cases of the infectious disease over the last decade. However, more than 125 mutation variations of drug resistance have emerged in Southeast Asia. Those mutations impact the metabolism of the parasite itself – inhibiting growth rate, for instance. A recent NIH-funded study published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy by Anderson and his team looked at one particular drug res

Smita Kulkarni, Ph.D. Despite more than three decades’ worth of research, HIV continues to be a major health threat in the U.S. and around the world. Although effective therapies exist that can give HIV-patients a relatively normal lifespan, the life-long treatment poses an enormous financial burden. That’s why scientists who study the problem of infectious diseases continue to focus on the virus that causes AIDS. Smita Kulkarni, Ph.D., was recently awarded a $525,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct research on the interaction between what are called long non-coding RNAs and HIV, a new area of investigation. Dr. Kulkarni specializes in host-pathogen interactions, specifically involving HIV. “We have worked on HIV and the impact of host factors on HIV for so long,” Dr. Kulkarni said, “but in reality we’ve looked at only 3% of the genome.” Scientists have focused exclusively on protein-coding genes. The rest of the human genome -- 97% -- does not code for proteins. The protein cod

Marmosets in the study were monitored with Fitbit-like devices. What does a monkey wearing a Fitbit-like device have to do with Parkinson's disease? A newly-published study shows marmosets at the Southwest National Primate Research Center can mimic the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's. Marmosets are small, New World monkeys that can mimic the sleep disturbances, changes in circadian rhythm, and cognitive impairment people with Parkinson's disease develop. Associate Scientist Marcel Daadi, Ph.D., leader of the Regenerative Medicine and Aging Unit at the SNPRC, is the lead author of a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE. In addition to monitoring the marmosets, scientists videotaped the animals to document their ability to perform certain tasks and how those abilities were impacted over time by the disease. By developing an effective animal model that can emulate both the motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, scientists have a better chance of understanding the molecular mechanisms o

Khamis Tomusange, Ph.D. and Siqi Gong Texas Biomed scientists say what they've learned in the lab recently is an exciting development on the front lines of the battle against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Using macaques as an animal model, the team showed for the first time that an antibody called immunoglobulin M – called IgM – was effective in preventing infection when the monkeys were exposed to HIV in the mucosal cavity. More than 90 percent of new cases of HIV are caused through exposure to the virus in body cavities during sexual intercourse. Creating a manmade version of the IgM molecule in the lab and testing it is challenging. Dr. Ruth Ruprecht leads the team which published its findings in a recent journal. The IgM antibody has multiple arms to catch the virus, making it more efficient in clumping up the virus and keeping it from passing through the mucosal barrier and entering the rest of the body. For more information on this recent work, click here.

Deepak Kaushal, Ph.D. The Southwest National Primate Center's Mission is to improve the health of our global community through innovative biomedical research with nonhuman primate. The newest member of the team who will direct this program -- one of only seven of its kind in the country -- is Deepak Kaushal, Ph.D. He comes to Texas Biomedical Research Institute from the Tulane National Primate Research Center in Louisiana. Dr. Kaushal specializes in tuberculosis (TB) research in nonhuman primates. "I think this is a tremendous opportunity for me to bring my research here and build collaboration with what is already a very strong tuberculosis research team at Texas Biomed," Dr. Kaushal said. "I am also looking forward to the chance to administer a large research center like the SNPRC." Most of Dr. Kaushal's TB research with animals has involved macaques, but he plans on expanding that work using the baboons and marmosets that are also housed at the SNPRC. Dr. Kaushal begins his new job as Director of the S

A baboon from the SNPRC is undergoing an MRI. Neuropsychiatric diseases affect millions of people and can be disabling. Only about 8% of therapies that work in animal models make it all the way to humans. That's why Texas Biomed scientists are taking part in a study to try and find a better animal model to work with these complex health problems. The ultimate goal of this research, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, is to provide evidence for the use of baboons as a preclinical model for neuropsychiatric diseases. This two-year project involves 32 animals from the Southwest National Primate Research Center at Texas Biomed. The idea is to determine a miRNA biomarker signature of structural variation in the brains of baboons. The animals are being imaged at the Research Imaging institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Melanie A. Carless,  Ph.D., Associate Scientist Melanie Carless, Ph.D., an Associate Scientist at Texas Biomed, is principal investigator o

Victoria McFarland creates animal enrichment. The animal enrichment programs at the Southwest National Primate Research Center aim to stimulate species-typical behaviors and promote psychological well-being using social, physical, occupational, feeding and sensory enrichment opportunities, many of which mimic natural behaviors seen in the wild, which we aim to encourage. We also want to prevent or limit the occurrence of abnormal behaviors, which may result from the stress or boredom that sometimes occurs in a captive environment. We use enrichment devices to invite and encourage a wide range of species-typical behaviors that primates living in the wild express. Foraging, locomotion and socializing are all examples of species-typical behaviors. We have developed an Environmental Enhancement Plan that codifies these principles. Also, a list and description of devices can be found in our Enrichment Device Manual, and recipes for treats are found in our new Enrichment Cookbook. Almost all of the primates at S

Helen Lee Breton is a researcher who works in Dr. Chen's lab. Scientists at Texas Biomed are using CRISPR technology to try to create a new animal model for liver cancer. Liver cancer can have its roots in infectious diseases or metabolic conditions. And it’s a killer worldwide. Promising therapies developed in mouse models have failed in humans. So the experts at the Southwest National Primate Research Center think a bigger animal like a monkey might work better. The Southwest National Primate Research Center at Texas Biomed is home to more than a thousand of these Old World monkeys. CRISPR came on to the scientific scene in 2012. Christopher Chen, Ph.D., says it’s really making a huge impact in labs around the country.  

Tom Slick, Jr., is the founder of Texas Biomed The founder of Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Tom Slick, was a man of great vision and curiosity. His niece, Catherine Nixon Cooke, wrote a fascinating book about him title Tom Slick Mystery Hunter. We talked with Cooke about her uncle who lived some larger-than-life adventures and planted to seeds of scientific research in San Antonio that has yielded many breakthroughs in diagnostics, therapies and vaccines. Cooke says Tom Slick would have been delighted at what his vision in the early 40s has become in 2018.