In addition to being a regional hub for medical care in South Texas, San Antonio is increasingly recognized as a center for bioscience research and innovation.  The city’s vibrant research community is discovering and developing new treatments, vaccines and prevention techniques for some of mankind’s most challenging and complex diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, as well as bio-threat agents like smallpox, Ebola and tularemia.

San Antonio’s diverse research community combines academic, military and industry players with a long history of collaborating with each other.  The community’s biomedical research capabilities have made it a leading contender for the federal government’s planned new $500 million National Bio & Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF). The Texas Research Park in rural western Bexar County is one of five sites around the nation chosen by the Department of Homeland Security in July 2007 as finalists for this unique federal center.  The final site selection is expected to be made in the fall of 2008 following environmental impact studies of each proposed site.

The 1,236-acre research park, owned by the Texas Research and Technology Foundation, already hosts several major research and development programs in the life sciences, including the UT Health Science Center’s Institute of Biotechnology, Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, and South Texas Centers for Biology and Medicine.  The park is also home to the Cancer Therapy & Research Center’s Institute for Drug Development and the Southwest Oncology Group, along with various commercial enterprises.

In addition to the Texas Research Park, the Texas Biological and Agro-Defense Consortium (TBAC) offered the government a choice of two other potential sites for the NBAF project, including the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research and Brooks City-Base.

Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) is home to the nation’s only privately-operated, maximum containment (Bio-Safety Level 4) laboratory, which has operated for seven years with an impeccable safety record.  One of the nation’s leading independent biomedical research institutions, SFBR also operates the world’s largest computing cluster for genetics and genomics research.  It is also the site of the world’s largest baboon research colony at the Southwest National Primate Research Center.

Brooks City-Base, a partnership between the U.S. Air Force and the Brooks Development Authority, is a unique technology, research and business center on the site of the former Brooks AFB.  The 1,250-acre complex is home to the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, as well as DPT Laboratories’ new $24 million research, development and distribution facility and a recently-opened charter school focused on science and engineering. 

San Antonio’s biomedical research community is anchored by The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA), which ranks in the top 5% of the 1,650 U.S. universities and non-profit institutions that receive federal research funding.  Its research strengths include aging, cancer, cardiopulmonary disease, transplantation, infectious disease, metabolic biology, neuroscience, trauma and women’s health.

For the period 2001 to 2005, UTHSCSA ranked sixth in the nation in clinical medicine research impact, according to Science Watch.  The survey calculated the citation impact of papers produced by the top 100 federally funded U.S. universities. UTHSCSA produced 2,576 papers in the clinical medicine category over the five-year period and was assigned a relative impact percentage of 90, meaning that its papers were cited 90% more often than the world average for papers in clinical medicine.

In addition to the Health Science Center, San Antonio’s other UT System campus, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is on track to become the state’s next premier research university.  One of the nation’s fastest growing academic universities, UTSA is conducting increased amounts of biomedical research.  Its new Biotechnology, Sciences and Engineering Building, with 70 laboratories, is one of the largest science-related educational facilities in Texas. 

San Antonio’s two UT System universities collaborate on joint research projects and educational degree programs through the San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI), created in 2004.  The two schools have also combined efforts to develop intellectual property through a single Office of Technology Ventures.  This unique joint venture, which also includes other UT campuses in South Texas, is expected to maximize opportunities for bundling discoveries arising from multiple research labs.

The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the nation's leading academic research and treatment centers, serving more than 4.4 million people in the high-growth corridor of Central and South Texas including Austin, San Antonio, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley. CTRC is one of a few elite cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center, and is one of only three in Texas. CTRC handles more than 120,000 patient visits each year and is a world leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer.

The CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) is internationally recognized for conducting the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug trials program in the world and participated in the clinical and/or preclinical development of many of the cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The CTRC joins with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in sponsoring the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, the world's largest gathering of breast cancer researchers.

San Antonio is also home to the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute (CCRI), a specialized center to probe the underlying genetic and molecular causes of pediatric cancers and accelerate the translation of existing knowledge into novel interventions.  A component of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the CCRI opened in 2004 in a new 100,000-square foot facility, supported by a $200 million endowment from the State of Texas tobacco settlement.  In January 2007, it was awarded a $25 million grant from the Greehey Family Foundation, the largest private cash gift ever received by UTHSCSA and one of the largest in the history of the UT System.

In addition to these major bioscience-focused institutions, biomedical research is also performed in San Antonio by the Southwest Research Institute, a leading applied science institution benefiting government, industry and the public through innovative science and technology since 1947.

With its diverse population, San Antonio is a major location for clinical trials of new drug therapies and medical devices.  Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies from around the world conduct human trials at locations throughout the city, including the CTRC, UT Health Science Center, and dedicated sites such as Healthcare Discoveries, Inc.  Altogether, more than 3,000 active clinical trial protocols are being conducted in San Antonio.

San Antonio also is home to the largest military healthcare and biomedical research operations in the United States, providing unique collaborative opportunities not available elsewhere.  These include the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR), based at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), a modern healthcare facility that operates a Level I trauma center, world-renowned burn unit and new $37 million rehabilitation facility, the Center for the Intrepid, for amputees and other wounded soldiers.  BAMC’s clinical care and research facilities conduct significant amounts of translational and clinical research that stand to benefit trauma victims nationwide.   

As the only DoD research laboratory focused on traumatic injury, USAISR has a staff of 350 personnel and an annual research budget of $14 million. In addition to its core research programs, in 2004-2005 USAISR investigators conducted $3.8 million in sponsored research from DARPA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Office of Naval Research. Prominent examples of USAISR, BAMC, and UTHSCSA collaborations are the development of sulfamylon for burns and the development of the first coronary artery stent, the Palmaz-Schatz stent by BAMC cardiologist, Richard Schatz with UTHSCSA’s Julio Palmaz.

The prominence of BAMC and USAISR in military medicine will grow significantly between now and 2011, as the recent Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process will relocate many Department of Defense (DoD) medical and dental missions to San Antonio, making it the home of U.S. military medicine. The expected growth of approximately 230 additional investigators and staff will provide added unique opportunities for collaboration between BAMC, USAISR and other community researchers.

San Antonio is also home to Wilford Hall Medical Center (WHMC), the Air Force's largest medical facility.  As a result of the recent BRAC process, WHMC will be consolidated with BAMC over the next five years to become the San Antonio Military Medical Center, the largest of two national military medical centers.

WHMC currently operates the only DoD programs for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, has the only DoD eye bank and operates the Air Force's treatment and evaluation center for HIV.  Now in its 20th year, approximately 1,500 patients have participated in WHMC’s HIV research program. Some 350 persons living with HIV infection are enrolled in studies, including a large study of the Natural History of HIV in Military Beneficiaries.