• ONE OF THE WORLD'S LEADING
NONPROFIT INDEPENDENT BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS.
Since its founding in 1941 by Thomas B. Slick Jr., the
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research has gained
worldwide recognition in scientific and academic communities
for the quality of its basic research. Each year, our scientists
publish more than 100 articles in the international scientific
literature. Their discoveries contribute important new information
that helps advance the scientific community's effort to
improve health and save lives.
• ADVANCING OUR
KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN DISEASES.
Our scientists conduct biomedical research to improve human
health. They are detecting diseases and finding out what
causes them. They are discovering new methods for disease
prevention. Our scientists are working to find cures, and
ultimately, to eradicate disease.
• CONDUCTING
RESEARCH THAT BENEFITS HUMAN HEALTH.
Our major research programs include studying heart disease
and its associated risk factors; cancer; infectious diseases
such as AIDS, hepatitis and herpes; new and emerging disease
threats such as dengue, SARS and possible bioterror agents
like anthrax and Ebola; the role of genetics in human diseases
such as obesity, osteoporosis and diabetes; respiratory
diseases of the newborn; fetal growth and development; hormonal
research; and behavioral medicine.
• WHERE THE BUCK STARTS
IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH.
Before a new drug, vaccine or other medical breakthrough
can come about, researchers must first make advances in
basic research areas. SFBR is where this research begins.
• MEMBER OF THE
SOUTHWEST RESEARCH CONSORTIUM,
in partnership with the University of Texas Health Science
Center at San Antonio, the Southwest Research Institute,
the University of Texas at San Antonio, and Trinity University,
San Antonio.
• MEMBER OF THE
ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
INSTITUTES (AIRI),
a nationwide association of independent, not-for-profit
research institutes conducting peer-reviewed basic and applied
research in the biomedical and behavioral sciences.
• MEMBER OF ONE
OF THE REGIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE FOR BIODEFENSE AND
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES, ESTABLISHED BY THE NATIONAL
INSTITUTES OF HEALTH IN 2003.
The primary research focus of the eight new RCEs is on agents
the government has determined to be bioterror threats, often
described as “select agents.” Examples include
anthrax, bubonic plague, Ebola, tularensis, and viral hemorrhagic
fevers. The program, however, also addresses emerging infectious
diseases such as dengue fever, monkeypox and SARS. SFBR
is part of the RCE for Region VI, which is headed by the
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
