Our Mission
The mission of the Galveston National Laboratory is to assist the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the nation in
the development of an improved means for the prevention, diagnosis and
treatment of potentially life-threatening diseases caused by naturally
emerging and purposefully disseminated infectious agents.
We seek to accomplish this aim by carrying out cutting-edge,
multidisciplinary research into the causes, modes of transmission, and
mechanisms of infectious diseases. This work includes studies aimed at
developing a more holistic understanding of the biology and ecology of
these diseases, their causes, interactions, influences, potential and
nature - allowing for the translation of this knowledge into practical
measures that can improve human health.
We understand that these aims can only be achieved by bringing the
broadest possible array of scientific disciplines to focus on these
problems, including not only microbiology, virology, and cellular and
molecular immunology, but also field investigation, epidemiology, vector
ecology, pathology, molecular genetics, molecular biology, human and
pathogen genomics and proteomics, structural and chemical biology,
systems and computational biology, and clinical medicine.
We will also utilize the laboratory’s unique biocontainment resources
to assist where possible in the evaluation and validation of products
and preventives for infectious diseases – and we will work
collaboratively with both federal agencies and non-federal entities in
accomplishing this goal.
The GNL aims to be the pre-eminent resource within the United States
for the safe conduct of essential infectious disease research. We will
accomplish this goal by maintaining impeccable, explicit, and
transparent safety standards at all levels of biological containment,
consistent with federal laws and guidelines, and we will not tolerate
the involvement of those who do not fully respect, acknowledge and honor
those standards.
We acknowledge the unique opportunity of the GNL to train the
scientific teams of the future that will be needed to address the
continuing challenge of emerging infectious diseases, and we place the
professional training of scientists and support staff at all levels high
among our goals.
Infectious diseases know no political boundaries. As a society, we
must prepare to combat these emerging diseases by being vigilant in our
research efforts, and by investing in the kinds of laboratory facilities
that the GNL will provide. The sound science and novel findings at
work here contribute directly to our safety, as well as the safety of
the global community in which we live.