cores
projects
developmental_research
career_development Wired Research Projects
emergency_response
contacts
Regional Centers
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Courses
•Laboratory BiosafetyTraining Program
•Spin out, a researcher's guide to corporate identity
•HHS Public Health Emergency Medical Countermesures Enterprise (PHEMCE) Stake holders Workshop 2008

Data Tools
• Eremorph - A gene centric web-accessible database that offers to users special DNA sequence annotation that is a combination of unique computations and measurements with certain publicly available annotation. Eremorph contains these annotations overlaid upon genomic slices to which RefSeq genes are aligned, thus providing these data for coding, intron, untranslated, and promoter regions.
• HomologeneP a web-accessible database resource of computed homologs and alignments for every bacterial, viral and fungal coding sequence. These were computed using reciprocal similarity, and the results with various gene annotations are available in a search-able, browse-able database. This database is an expansion and replacement of Bad Bug Base.
• PathoGene- A tool for designing PCR primers for every sequenced microbial, viral, and fungal organism or custom sequence. Products and primers are BLASTable. Validated primers may be stored in a database for future retrieval. Potential promoter identification is also possible.
• PCR Now - A tool for designing Real-Time PCR primers. Supplement to PathoGene for RT-PCR primer design in organisms not featured in the PathoGene database.
• PHIG - A database that contains 632 genes related to the human immune system as identified by NCBI. A description of their function, location, and links to known SNPs and homologs in mouse and rat are also included.
• Primer DB - A database for storing and retrieving validated PathoGene PCR primers. Parameters under which they were generated will also be stored.
• PathoBLAST - Blast your gene of interest against the GenBank genomes collected for many of the biothreat pathogens listed on this site.
• Nome della Proteina (GI to Locus Link Converter)- A new protein identification resolution database. This database provides easy conversion of protein GI Numbers to Locus Link IDs and vice versa. GO terms, products, AfCS IDs and analyses, and official names and symbols are also provided.
• siRNA - A tool which aids in designing the target sequence for siRNA and provides a database containing validation information about designed siRNA
• eTBLAST - a text similarity engine, which accepts a query and then compares it to a collection of other text, e.g. Medline.
• ARGH - a comprehensive catalog of biomedical acronyms and abbreviations extracted from MedLine abstracts.

Western Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases

In response to NIAID’s call for the creation of strong infrastructure and multifaceted research and development activities applying the best basic, translational, and clinical science to the generation of new diagnostic, therapeutic and vaccine countermeasures for Category A, B, and C pathogens posing threats as agents of bioterrorism, over 32 institutions in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana have combined their energy, creativity, and resources to create the Western Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (WRCE). Eight scientific cores provide access to state-of-the-art proteomics, genomics, standardized small animal, and nonhuman primate models of infectious diseases, BSL4 laboratory facilities, as well as crosscutting functions in computational biology and a streamlined process for translational development of vaccines and drugs leading to FDA approval. A wealth of scientific expertise on biothreat agents and contemporary biomedical technology is applied to establishing the scientific basis and translating it through 9 major research projects, 12 developmental research projects, and 5 career development projects. The scientific program includes: 1) the development of vaccines against Rift Valley fever, smallpox, brucellosis, tularemia, anthrax, plague, glanders, typhus and Venezuelan, eastern, and western equine encephalitis; 2) new therapeutic agents against Bacillus anthracis (including the spore), plague, arenaviruses, filoviruses, alphaviruses, flaviviruses, Nipah virus, and poxviruses; 3) novel approaches to synthesis of chemical libraries that will promote future drug discovery; 4) advanced diagnostic methods for Q fever and typhus; and 5) development of a small animal model for monkeypox and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. A consistently strong spirit of cooperation among traditionally competing institutions has established an interlocking network of projects, cores, and administration. The guidance of this network of interactive research projects and core resource facilities is executed under a comprehensive administrative plan to contribute substantially to the nation’s biodefense mission by fulfilling a carefully crafted scientific strategy on a common theme. Collaborations for host–pathogen biology-based development of novel vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics against biothreat agents are at the forefront of the WRCE’s scientific endeavors.

Key Personnel:
Director: David H. Walker, M.D. – University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Associate Director for Research Development: Joel B. Baseman, Ph.D. – University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Associate Director for Product Development: Lawrence Stanberry, M.D., Ph.D. – UTMB
Associate Director for Career Development: Stanley M. Lemon, M.D. – UTMB
Associate Director for Emergency Preparedness: Scott Lillibridge, M.D. – University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Associate Director for Scientific Administration: Douglas M. Watts, Ph.D. – UTMB
Associate Director for Biosafety: Lee Thompson – UTMB
Project Administrator: Kimberly Schuenke, Ph.D. – UTMB
Participating Institutions:
Texas:
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Houston VA Medical Center, Houston, Texas
Rice University, Houston, Texas
San Antonio Metro Health District, San Antonio, Texas
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, Southwest National Primate Research Center, San Antonio, Texas
Texas A&M University (TAMU), College of Veterinary Medicine, College Station, Texas
Texas A&M University System Health Science Center (TAMUS HSC), College Station, TX
Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, Houston, TX
Texas Dept. of Health, Austin, Texas
Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
University of Houston, Houston, Texas
University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Worth, Texas
University of Texas at Austin (UT), Austin, Texas
University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas
University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas
University of Texas at San Antonio (UT-SA), San Antonio, Texas
University of Texas Health Center at Tyler, Tyler, Texas
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSCH), Houston, Texas
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA), San Antonio, Texas
University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, Texas
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UTSW), Dallas, Texas
New Mexico:
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM
New Mexico Dept. of Health, Santa Fe, NM
Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, New Mexico
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Louisiana:
Louisiana Dept. of Health, New Orleans, LA
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana
Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, Baton Rouge, LA
Tulane University Health Sciences Center, Tulane National Research Primate Resource Center, Covington and New Orleans, Louisiana
Oklahoma:
Oklahoma State Dept. of Health, Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Arkansas:
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas
Arkansas Dept. of Health, Little Rock, Arkansas
Department of Veterans Affairs, Little Rock, Arkansas
Other:
AlphaVax, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
University of California, Davis, CA
University of Illinois, Urbana, IL