San Antonio is used to attracting attention. Usually it comesfrom tourists, conventions, and the occasional basketballtournament. Recently, however, San Antonio has attracted theattention of the Department of Homeland Security, and researchersat the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)are thrilled. Our city is being considered for the new NationalBio and Agro–Defense Facility (NBAF). San Antonio is one ofsix proposed sites including Manhattan, Kansas; Flora, Mississippi;Athens, Georgia; Butner, North Carolina; and PlumIsland, New York. The San Antonio facility would be locatedat the Texas Research Park off Potranco Road, on the border ofBexar and Medina counties.
A ccording to the NBAF Draft Environmental ImpactStatement Executive Summary (DEIS) available on the Departmentof Homeland Security website, the role of the facilitywould be to detect, study, and create vaccines for diseasespotentially devastating to the agriculture of the United States.Diseases that can be transmitted from animal to human arealso of interest. Some of that research is already underway atthe Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York, but the50–year–old building is not equipped with sufficient space orsafeguards to handle the new efforts.
A consortium of organizations interested in the NBAF, includingUTSA scientists, gathered to support the San Antonioproposal. The Texas Biological and Agro–Defense Consortium(TBAC ) also includes the Southwest Foundation for BiomedicalResearch (SFBR); the University of Texas Health ScienceCenter, San Antonio; Brooks Development Authority; andthe Texas Research and Technology Foundation. Currentlythese groups collaborate in various research efforts, boostingthe economy and providing UTSA students with handsonresearch training. Dr. Karl Klose, primary investigator atUTSA’s South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases(STC EID), believes the already interactive research communitywould be strengthened by the presence of the NBAF. Scientistswith similar interests, namely those from the organizationsin the consortium, would be able to collaborate on alarger scale.
Klose believes San Antonio is the best choice for the NBAFbecause it “has the infrastructure and expertise in the studyof infectious diseases” that such a facility would require. Boththe SFBR and UTSA have facilities with biosafety levels of 3or higher, whichare required forhousing suchinfectious diseases.Dr. RobertGracy, UTSAvice presidentfor research,said, “We feelthere is a synergybetweenthe biodefensework our infectiousdiseasecenter researchers are already doing and the research that willbe taking place in the proposed facility.”
Research is a driving force at The University of Texas atSan Antonio, and the College of Sciences is behind the wheel.As the university’s most funded college, the College of Sciencesexpended over $23 million the 2007 Fiscal Year onsponsored programs, $3 million of that generated by the STCEID.Nineteen faculty members conduct research on variousdiseases such as cholera, AIDS, SARS, Legionnaire’s disease,Lyme disease, and many food–borne diseases which would beof particular interest of the NBAF staff. Since 2001, the useof infectious diseases as weapons has become a great threatin the United States. According to the STC EID website, theUTSA facilities and faculty “provide an excellent environmentto answer several critical questions relating to emerging andbioweapon–related diseases.”
San Antonians may ask why a facility studying potentiallydangerous diseases should be built in their community. Thereare a number of reasons. First, there is the pure scientific interestin learning something new. Second, the scientific communitywould be enriched with a new collaborative member.Efforts by students and scientists drawn to San Antonio by thefacility would enhance San Antonio’s reputation for being acenter for major medical research. Then there is the economicimpact. Construction would bring in about 1500 temporaryjobs and generate about $150 million in labor income, and$20 million in state and local taxes according to the DEIS ExecutiveSummary. Once the facility is completed and running,there would be about 300 new jobs for the community.
In order to make this important decision, the Departmentof Homeland Security has taken several factors into considerationfor this new site including public opinion. From June 27through August 25, community members were able to submittheir comments and on August 7 an open meeting was heldat the Radisson Hill Country Resort. A final decision will bemade late this fall with construction set to begin in 2010, andoperations starting by 2015.
Although a National Bio and Agro–Defense Facility wouldnot change San Antonio’s skyline, or draw tourists each year,it would play an integral part in raising the city’s stature in thefield of infectious diseases, and bring some well–deserved attentionto our research community.
