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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Professor Mahesh Mohan, D.V.M., Ph.D., and collaborators more than $3.5 million over five years to investigate the effects of cannabinoids on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND). This research project aims to evaluate whether delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) alone or in combination can potentially alter DNA methylation, which is a biological process that can create a change in the expression of certain genes.

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Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) in San Antonio, Texas, was awarded $1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to test the efficacy of human monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. MAbs are human-made proteins meant to mimic human immune system antibodies. Texas Biomed Professors Luis Martinez-Sobrido, Ph.D. and Jordi B. Torrelles, Ph.D. will co-lead the project to evaluate the protective efficacy of these MAbs in small rodent models, developed at Texas Biomed, on behalf of the Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium (CoVIC), an international nonprofit consortium evaluating MAb therapeutics for COVID-19.

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The Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC) at Texas Biomedical Research Institute and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio received a $1.3 million collaborative grant to continue the San Antonio Marmoset Aging Program (SA MAP) and further define the hallmarks of aging in a nonhuman primate (monkey) model. Developing the marmoset model will allow for eventual testing of interventions in additional model systems that could slow or change age-related decline in humans.

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Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) Professor Luis Martinez-Sobrido, Ph.D., recently released study findings, alongside colleagues at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. indicating that a human monoclonal antibody (hmAb) 1212C2 showed promise for further clinical development for preventative use or as a therapy for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Earlier this year, the consortium of scientists isolated specific B cells from patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and developed a panel of hmAbs that not only bind to SARS-CoV-2 infected cells, but also neutralize the ability of the virus to infect cells. The hmAb 1212C2 was subsequently licensed to Aridis Pharmaceuticals.

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Researchers apply a novel reverse genetics approach to create recombinant SARS-CoV-2San Antonio, Texas (October 1, 2020) – Researchers at Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) recently published findings from an innovative SARS-CoV-2 study that will assist in the development of new vaccines and antivirals for COVID-19.

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Squirrel monkeys have been identified as a new animal model to further study and improve therapies for hepatitis B infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Christopher Chen, Ph.D., Assistant Director for Research at the Southwest National Primate Center at Texas Biomed, led the team of scientists who published their findings in Hepatology Communications.

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The leadership team at Texas Biomedical Research Institute is excited to announce the addition of Akudo Anyanwu, M.D., M.P.H. to its administrative leadership team as Vice President of Development.

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Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) scientists have added another tool to the COVID-19 toolbelt, validating a new small animal model for studying SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

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Fueling transformative research through collaboration, the San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics (SAPPT) announces the funding of three more collaborative COVID-19 research efforts in San Antonio. SAPPT has awarded more than $600,000 to fund these projects, following the funding of a SARS CoV-2 vaccine project announced in April of this year.

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More than $3.7 million was awarded to Mahesh Mohan, DVM, MS, Ph.D., Professor at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, and Chioma M. Okeoma, Ph.D., Associate Professor at Stony Brook University, to explore the link between cannabinoids (THC) and chronic intestinal inflammation in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

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– New technology employing single cell genome sequencing of the parasite that causes malaria has yielded some surprising results and helps pave the way for possible new intervention strategies for this deadly infectious disease, according to Texas Biomedical Research Institute Assistant Professor Ian Cheeseman, Ph.D.

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A major goal of tuberculosis (TB) research is to find a way to treat people with the latent (or inactive) form of the disease to keep them from developing symptomatic TB. A breakthrough study using a new animal model developed for this purpose showed a combination of two classes of antibiotics can wipe out this hidden threat.

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Two drugs already on the market to treat type two diabetes are being tested in nonhuman primates to see if they can impact the aging process. Researchers dosed marmosets with Metformin and Acarbose and found no adverse side effects

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The San Antonio Medical Foundation (SAMF) has awarded Texas Biomedical Research Institute Professor Jordi B. Torrelles, Ph.D., with a $173,000 grant to study a modified Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette et Guérin (BCG) vaccine shown to have promise for treating bladder cancer. BCG is a weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis, a vaccine for tuberculosis.

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As part of Texas Biomedical Research Institute’s strategic plan to grow the organization into the leading infectious disease research institute in the country, Texas Biomed has established a renowned external scientific advisory board. Five distinguished researchers have joined the newly-formed group to provide Texas Biomed with objective perspectives on matters relating to the Institute’s research progress and priorities .

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Anna Goodroe, D.V.M., DACLAM, is the newest veterinarian to join the staff at the Southwest National Primate Research Center on the Texas Biomedical Research Institute campus. As an Assistant Veterinarian, she is part of the Veterinary Resources and Research Support team.

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Researchers at Texas Biomedical Research Institute are zeroing in on a new way to target tuberculosis (TB) infection. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a four-year, $2.8 million grant for scientists to study the role of lung macrophages (immune cells) in metabolic and inflammation responses to TB.

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In mid-August 2019, human clinical trials were halted in the current Ebola epidemic that has claimed more than 2,100 lives in Africa. The findings resulted in the discontinuation of two of the drugs in the trial. Future patients will be randomly assigned to receive either REGN-EB3 (Regeneron) or mAb114 (Ridgeback Biotherapeutics) in an extension phase of the study. Texas Biomedical Research Institute scientists in the Institute’s Biosafety Level 4 contract research program conducted preclinical testing of several of the compounds in the trial, working with Regeneron and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

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Tuberculosis and HIV – two of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases – are far worse when they occur together. Now, Texas Biomedical Research Institute researchers have pinpointed an important mechanism at work in this troubling health problem. And, their discovery could lead to a new mode of treatment for people at risk.

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The newest Professor at Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Mahesh Mohan, D.V.M., M.S., Ph.D., is an HIV researcher who focuses on what happens at the sub-cellular level when a person is infected with the virus that causes AIDS.