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 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, 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 and tropical 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.