Aging

SNPRC scientists have pioneered the marmoset monkey as a model for studying natural aging processes and related diseases. They conducted the foundational studies necessary to establish that the small monkey ages similarly to humans, developing similar body conditions and diseases including cognitive decline. The monkeys live in social groups similar to people and have relatively short lifespans of 12 to 20 years, making it possible to study critical aspects of aging in a controlled environment.

Scientists at SNPRC are determining whether shifting mitochondria from one cell to another, specifically in immune cells that help a person mount an immune response, can improve a person’s ability to mount an immune response against specific pathogens and decrease excess inflammation in the elderly.

Bone Healing

Research with baboons and chimpanzees established that a mixture of specific proteins and a matrix material can dramatically hasten the restructuring of bone after surgery or accidental breakage. It is expected that this product will soon become widely used and that it will greatly reduce recovery time after bone breakage or surgery.

COVID-19

Texas Biomed/SNPRC scientists identified the primary animal model necessary to test COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics as the rhesus macaque after launching a 60-day study of three nonhuman primate potential models. This enabled researchers worldwide to feel confident in testing future therapies and vaccines for safety and efficacy.

Subsequently, SNPRC and Texas Biomed scientists went on to work with Pfizer and BioNTech to test their initial COVID-19 vaccine that eventually rolled out worldwide in December of 2020, as well as the Novavax vaccines. Center scientists also tested the Regeneron monoclonal antibody therapy for COVID-19 that was released to the public in 2020. The Institute has worked with more than 40 partners to test various vaccines, therapies, diagnostics and sanitizers, many of which were later used in patient and/or facility treatments against COVID-19.

Diabetes surgery

Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Texas Diabetes Institute, UT Health San Antonio and University Health reported promising results following a minimally invasive procedure that dissolved abdominal fat in two patients in 2021. The goal of the novel procedure was to improve the patients’ health and minimize or reverse the adverse health effects of their Type 2 diabetes. The mesenteric visceral lipectomy technique, or MVL, extracts fat from the mesentery, a sheet of tissue that is attached to the intestines. The surgeon makes a small abdominal incision and uses a patented, proprietary medical device to dissolve the glycoproteins (or glucose) that hold the fat together. The same device suctions out the fat without affecting the blood vessels or surrounding tissues. Prior to the human study, the team proved the technique’s safety, efficacy and positive health benefits in a baboon study.

Ebola treatments and vaccines

Researchers at Texas Biomed/SNPRC have been working since 2008 to identify therapies and vaccines to use against Ebola virus and other hemorrhagic fever viruses. Scientists have worked with pharmaceutical companies to test the therapies and vaccines that are now being considered for patient use when outbreaks occur. These therapies and vaccines have received emergency use authorization in times of outbreak.

Hepatitis B and C

Texas Biomed and SNPRC scientists worked with pharmaceutical partners to test therapeutics to treat Hepatitis B that are now in clinics.

Researchers at Texas Biomed and SNPRC pioneered the use of total genome microarrays to examine the innate immune response in the liver to HCV infection. These studies initiated the use of microarrays in the field of hepatitis. Texas Biomed scientists were also pioneers in early HCV research, developing the technology to grow the virus in the lab, enabling the future research into HCV diagnostics and vaccines and therapeutic studies.

While developing the chimpanzee model of chronic viral hepatitis, SNPRC tested new antiviral therapies for the treatment of chronic hepatitis infections. Collaborating with more than 20 biotech and pharmaceutical companies to examine the safety and efficacy of HCV antivirals in the chimpanzee model as the last preclinical step prior to human trials. Today, three antiviral cocktails are FDA approved and others are near approval that can cure HCV with 12 weeks of daily oral medications. SNPRC helped develop one of the FDA- approved cocktails with safety and efficacy studies that spanned a 10-year period.

High Frequency Ventilator

Research on premature baboons in the early 1980s led to a San Antonio-based project in partnership with Texas Biomed, Wilford Hall Medical Center and the Southwest Research Institute to develop a high frequency neonatal ventilator. Developed initially to help premature baboons, the ventilator served as the prototype and precursor to the modern-day ventilators now keeping thousands of premature human newborns alive long enough for their lungs to develop.

HIV

Texas Biomed and SNPRC have been at the forefront of AIDS research since the early 1980s, contributing the scientific expertise in animal models for HIV/AIDS in order to test early antiretroviral therapies that have become the standard AZT therapy used by people living with HIV today. Researchers at SNPRC were closely involved in researching early PrEP (pre-exposure therapeutic) candidates. Additionally, Texas Biomed and SNPRC tested early vaccine candidates that proved these vaccines ineffective, sparing thousands of human lives had these vaccines gone into human clinical trials. Scientists at the Institute and SNPRC continue to search for the elusive HIV/AIDS vaccine, as well as researching potential therapies and interactions with other diseases such as tuberculosis and neurological disorders.

Surfactant

Basic physiological research with premature baboons advanced the development of a natural product called Surfactant to minimize and prevent lung distress and damage in premature newborn babies. Surfactant is now given to all premature infants as an aerosol. Surfactants are a mixture of fats and proteins that reduce tension on the lungs and are now common use in neonatal intensive care units.

 Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the largest research programs at Texas Biomed and SNPRC with researchers focused on understanding everything from lung mucosa to HIV/TB co-infection to impacts of aging on the human lung environment and susceptibility to TB.

Researchers discovered in 2019 that a combination of two classes of antibiotics can wipe out latent TB in animal models, which is the preclinical step required before moving this potential therapy to human trials.

Another research study in 2023 is testing a potential host-directed therapy targeting the immune system to bolster the body’s ability to control the infection, a method shown to improve cancer treatments. Additional animal studies are required before moving forward, but these are two examples of therapeutic development for TB showing great promise.

Xenotransplantation

Early research on baboon and transplantation led to early xenotransplantion efforts, including the first baboon-to-human heart transplant in 1984, a baboon-to-human liver transplant in 1992 and baboon-to-human bone marrow transplant for an AIDS patient in 1996. All of this early research led to current successful efforts at xenotransplantation of pig hearts.

Zika vaccine

Researchers at Texas Biomed and SNPRC have collaborated with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and the Trudeau Institute to test the efficacy of a Zika virus vaccine candidate (developed by WRAIR). The Zika virus outbreak across the Americas in 2015-2016 raised the alarm over how the virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, is a threat to pregnant women and developing fetuses, resulting in miscarriages and babies born with extremely small heads and other severe birth defects. Mice and marmoset monkeys have enabled the team to evaluate how well the vaccine works to protect adults and fetuses. Over the past several years, they have demonstrated that the vaccine candidate has effectively and safely blocked transmission from the adult to fetuses when given before and during pregnancy. The promising vaccine candidate has completed early clinical trials in people. Clinical trials typically exclude pregnant people for ethical reasons, so the studies at SNPRC provide vital insights that can inform pregnant people and help them determine if they will feel confident getting vaccinated during a future Zika outbreak.