The Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research is:

• 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 well over 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 cardiovascular 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 avian flu, and possible bioterror agents like anthrax and Ebola; the role of genetics in human diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, epilepsy, mentall illness, and the pregnancy disorder preeclampsia; 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 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.

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