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Christian Messa Kleberg, Fondren foundations commit $1.3
million to Galveston National Laboratory GALVESTON, Texas — The Robert J. Kleberg Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation has pledged $1 million, and the Fondren Foundation has committed $300,000 toward the construction of a national biocontainment research laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. UTMB received a $110 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 2003 to construct the Galveston National Laboratory, one of only two national biocontainment laboratories which will allow researchers to safely study the pathogens responsible for a number of existing and emerging infectious threats to human health. Infectious diseases kill an estimated 20 million people each year worldwide and remain among the leading causes of death in the United States. The commitments by the Fondren and Kleberg foundations will help fulfill the $57 million local match needed for construction of the seven-story Galveston National Laboratory, which is scheduled to be completed in 2008. Philanthropic support and UTMB institutional resources will satisfy the match. In gratitude to the foundations’ support of the laboratory, UTMB officials will name two Galveston National Laboratory research facilities after each. The Kleberg Laboratory will occupy some 1,600 square feet of biosafety level 3 (BSL3) space, which enables researchers to safely handle infectious agents that can cause serious or possibly lethal diseases. The Fondren Foundation Laboratory will encompass about 1,600 square feet as well and provide biosafety level 2 (BSL2) containment, which allows for the study of moderately virulent pathogens. Both laboratories will help attract internationally recognized experts in virology, vaccine development, drug design and structural biology to UTMB. Both will also be equipped with high-resolution imaging equipment capable of producing extremely detailed three-dimensional images of viruses at various stages of development, providing an even better understanding of their structure and paving the way for potential diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutic approaches. The Kleberg and Fondren Foundation laboratories are part of more than 70,000 square feet of planned BSL3 and BSL2 space and related support facilities in the Galveston National Laboratory. With construction slated to begin this spring, the laboratory will also contain more than 12,000 square feet of biosafety level 4 (BSL4), or maximum-containment, lab space. The facility will significantly augment UTMB’s existing 2,000 square feet of BSL4 space in the Robert E. Shope, M.D., Laboratory, housed in the John Sealy Pavilion for Infectious Diseases Research. The Shope Lab is the first full-sized maximum biocontainment facility on a university campus in the Americas. It was financed by a lead gift from The Sealy & Smith Foundation of Galveston and additional funding from the National Institutes of Health and other sources. UTMB President John D. Stobo said the Kleberg and Fondren foundations’ commitment to the Galveston National Laboratory will help shield the nation against both the potential menace of bioterrorism and naturally occurring threats. “The Kleberg and Fondren Foundation laboratories will serve as unique resources for the American research community,” Stobo said. “We’re grateful to both foundations for demonstrating such dedication to the national laboratory at UTMB and its promise to conquer familiar and emerging infectious diseases.” Dr. Stanley M. Lemon, an internationally recognized virologist and principal investigator of UTMB’s national laboratory project, said the foundations’ support will inspire others to give to the laboratory. “I’m pleased that philanthropic leaders like the Fondren and Kleberg foundations see in the Galveston National Laboratory the broad promise of a world in which infections and epidemics old and new are conquered by the best that science has to offer,” said Lemon, the inaugural holder of the John Sealy Distinguished University Chair in Human Infections and Immunity and director of the university’s new Institute for Human Infections and Immunity. Established in 1950, the San Antonio-based Kleberg Foundation is devoted to supporting medical research, veterinary and animal sciences, health services, wildlife research and preservation, the arts and humanities, and higher education. Robert J. Kleberg and his wife, Helen, both deceased, were heirs to the 825,000-acre King Ranch in South Texas. Robert Kleberg was the grandson of Captain Richard King, the ranch’s founder. In addition to supporting the Galveston National Laboratory, the Kleberg Foundation has contributed to infectious disease research at UTMB, as well as to the university’s World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases, now a component of the UTMB Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases. Created in 1948 by Houston philanthropist Ella F. Fondren, the Fondren Foundation is committed to health, educational and human services endeavors. The foundation has supported such UTMB projects as hyperbaric oxygen therapy for pediatric cerebral palsy patients and an otolaryngology laboratory for larynx research. In addition to being chosen as the site of a national biocontainment laboratory, UTMB received $48 million in federal funding in 2003 to serve as the lead agency for the Western Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases. It was the only university to garner both the national laboratory and regional center of excellence designations. UTMB |
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