The San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics has awarded $200,000 for a collaborative study to develop a novel vaccine to combat COVID-19. Within days of the Stay Home/Work Safe directive issued by the City of San Antonio, the San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics (SAPPT) organized and issued a call for proposals to combat COVID-19.

M. tuberculosis, which causes the worldwide global health problem tuberculosis (TB), is transmitted human to human via the airborne route into lung alveoli and ultimately exploits and grows in host macrophages. We seek to understand the cell signaling pathways initiated by infection of human macrophages with M. tuberculosis that lead to disease. Increased understanding of how macrophages are susceptible to M. tuberculosis is expected to aid in the development of host-directed therapies for TB.

We hypothesize that SARS-CoV-2 RNA viral mediated infection impacts cardiomyocyte mitochondrial function that results in cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and high mortality.

The purpose of this project is to test monoclonal antibodies in a neutralization assay with SARS-CoV-2 virus to generate IC50 values.

Unique proteins and peptides can transform salt solutions into crystals visible to the naked eye. The goal if this project is to couple these motifs to small antibodies that recognize repetitive components of pathogens so that the presence of a microbe will be signaled by the appearance of a crystal. This process could lead to the development of a new generation of inexpensive and easy to use point-of-care tests for diseases that will advance human healthcare.

The overall goal is to evaluate the potential treatment efficacy of IV-dosed galidesivir.

Exploiting the Viral RNA Methylation Machinery for SARS-CoV-2 Therapy

We aim to fully characterize mutational signatures of SARS-CoV-19 focusing on the furin cleavage site, determine the role of the GC-rich sequence and CpG sites within the furin cleavage site and develop neutralizing Abs to target the furin cleavage site.

Dr. Martinez-Sobrido will be responsible for the pandemic research plan that includes pre-pandemic risk assessment and emergency pandemic response plan.

Southwest Research Institute has received funding from the Medical CBRN Defense Consortium (MCDC) administered by Advanced Technology International to develop a nerve agent antidote for emergency use on the battlefield or to protect public health.