During
the course of the past century, humankind has witnessed tremendous advances in scientific knowledge regarding the etiology, prevention, and control of infectious diseases. The antibiotic era ushered in a brief interlude of optimism and complacency
that was accompanied by the relaxation and interruption of public health surveillance and control programs. The misconception that the modern, developed world was no longer vulnerable to widespread infectious diseases has been shattered many times
since, predominantly with the emergence of pandemic HIV/AIDS, SARS coronaviruses and continuing with other new life-threatening infectious diseases and the vigorous resurgence of infectious diseases prematurely dismissed as historical artifacts.
Today infectious diseases remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although the immediate burden of tropical infectious diseases falls most heavily on the people of developing countries, citizens of industrialized countries are increasingly
experiencing their effects, especially as international travel increases contact with the causative organisms. Moreover, the emergence and rapid spread of new infectious diseases, most dramatically pandemic HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Zika virus disease, COVID-19,
SARS/MERS, West Nile encephalitis, and chikungunya fever has been accompanied by the resurgence of "old" and "reemerging" diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, scrub typhus, rabies, dengue, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, and yellow fever. The emergence
of some of these in more virulent and drug-resistant forms has further underscored our global vulnerability to infectious diseases.
The UTMB Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases (CBEID) was established in 2003, the same year the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) selected UTMB as one of eight institutions
to lead a Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (RCE) and to receive a grant to construct on the UTMB campus one of two National Biocontainment Laboratories, now known as the Galveston National Laboratory.
The 10-year, $105M RCE grant awarded to UTMB was led by Dr. David Walker, the CBEID Executive Director, and served as the foundation for investigator-driven research at UTMB and collaborating institutions in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas,
and Louisiana. This award was a direct response to the need for strong infrastructure and multifaceted research, training and development activities applying the best basic, translational and clinical science to the generation of new diagnostic and
vaccine countermeasures for NIAID Category A, B, and C pathogens and emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
The main goal of the CBEID is to support the mission of the Institute for Human Infections and Immunity (IHII) by coordinating activities and research involving infectious agents, particularly emerging infectious diseases and agents of bioterrorism. The
CBEID has two main objectives:
- To reduce the vulnerability of the US and other nations to the use of biological weapons for warfare and terrorism.
- To alleviate suffering from emerging infectious diseases through application of basic, translational, and field research, and through education.
The strategic research philosophy that has guided the CBEID's development is to enable the best available intellectual and physical resources to be integrated and focused on defense against biological weapons, as well as emerging and tropical infectious
agents of major global importance.
The Center has attracted an exceptionally talented and multidisciplinary team of research scientists with broad expertise in many biodefense and emerging infectious disease agents. Research programs have been developed in all major areas targeted by the
NIAID in its biodefense program, including the basic biology of bacterial and viral biological warfare and terrorist pathogens, as well as emerging diseases. Immunology and host response to infection, with emphasis on pathogenesis, vaccine development,
antimicrobial drug development, and diagnostics have also been pursued. Combined with the unique containment and other specialized research resources in place, the UTMB environment for emerging infectious disease and biodefense research is outstanding.