The Galveston National Laboratory
As one of two National Biocontainment Laboratories to be constructed under grants awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health (NIAID/NIH), the Galveston National Laboratory (GNL) will provide much-needed research space to develop therapies, vaccines and diagnostic tests for naturally occurring emerging diseases such as SARS and West Nile encephalitis, as well as for viral and bacterial agents that might be employed by terrorists.
- Total gross square feet: Approximately 174,000
- Total net square feet: 82,411
- Total laboratory space: 63,000 square feet
- Total BSL4 space: 12,362 square feet
- Total construction cost: $167 million
- Federal grant amount: $110 million
- Local share: $58.6 million
- Economic impact: $1.4 billion over 20 years statewide
- Construction start date: May 2005
- Projected opening date: June 2008
- Ownership: UTMB will own and operate the GNL in support of the biodefense research agenda of NIAID
- Types of pathogens to be studied: Anthrax, plague, hemorrhagic fevers (such as Ebola), typhus, West Nile virus, influenza, drug-resistant tuberculosis, among others
- Principal Investigator:
Stanley M. Lemon, M.D.
Director, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity and
John Sealy Distinguished University Chair in Human Infections and Immunity, endowed by The Sealy & Smith Foundation