Ricardo Carrion, Jr. 

Assistant Scientist & BSL-4 Lab Scientific Manager | Virology and Immunology and SNPRC
Phone: 210-258-9479

---

Research Focus

The anthrax attacks of 2001 have brought to the forefront the need for countermeasures against biothreat agents.  In the relatively small-scale attack, many individuals that were exposed to anthrax spores received antibiotics as a prophylactic treatment.  Some individuals that developed late stage Anthrax; however, succumbed to disease due to the absence of an efficacious antitoxin.   Several naturally occurring diseases exist that have no vaccines or specific treatment.  Hemorrhagic fever is an illness caused by viruses representing several distinct families of viruses for which many have no cure.  My research program uses SFBR’s Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory to safely study these agents and advance the development of vaccines and therapies for hemorrhagic fever. 

In support of vaccine development, we have developed Novel Nonhuman primate (NHP) models for hemorrhagic fever viruses and Encephalitis Viruses.  We have provided evidence for the utility of the marmoset in high biocontainment research.  We have recently published data on the utility of this primate as a model for Lassa hemorrhagic fever and Eastern Equine Encephalitis.  We have also used the Lassa marmoset model in a vaccine efficacy study.  In addition, we are investigating the marmoset as an alternative model for Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fever.  The second focus of our research deals with advanced development of vaccines and novel therapies to BSL-3 and BSL-4 agents.  Most recently we have advanced VLP vaccine platforms for prevention of filoviral disease.   We have shown the efficacy of these vaccines in both mouse and guinea pig models.  The third focus of our research is discovery and validation of broad spectrum therapies to biothreat agents.  This includes validating candidate antivirals identified in high throughput screening in rodent hemorrhagic fever models, as well as testing novel antimicrobial compounds in anthrax and tularemia murine models. 

Awards and Honors

1995	Sembradores de Amistad Scholarship, UTHSCA
1997	6th International Symposium on Double Stranded RNA Viruses Fellowship Grant
1997-2001	Viral Pathogenesis N.I.H. Training Grant
1998	17th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Viology Travel Grant
1999	18th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Viology Travel Grant
2001	20th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Viology Travel Grant
2002	21th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Viology Travel Grant
2004	23rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Viology Travel Grant
2004	Invited Workshop Convenor, Vaccines and Gene Therapy I, 23rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Virology, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2004	Invited Workshop Convenor, Vaccines I: Non-amyxovirus RNA Pathogens 26th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Virology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
2005	San Antonio Business Journal, “40 under 40” Award
Outside Member	University of the Incarnate Word, Thesis Committee (Salinas)

Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a recombinant subunit West Nile virus vaccine in rhesus monkeys.
Lieberman MM, Nerurkar VR, Luo H, Cropp B, Carrion R Jr, de la Garza M, Coller BA, Clements D, Ogata S, Wong T, Martyak T, Weeks-Levy C:
Clin Vaccine Immunol 16: 1332-1337, 2009
PubMed ID: 19641099

Protection against lethal challenge by Ebola virus-like particles produced in insect cells.
Sun Y, Carrion R Jr, Ye L, Wen Z, Ro YT, Brasky K, Ticer AE, Schwegler EE, Patterson JL, Compans RW, Yang C:
Virology 383: 12-21, 2009
PubMed ID: 18986663

Show More Publications