SNPRC Health Center Mural

Top Row (L to R)

Tom Slick Jr.:  Slick founded the organization that would become Texas Biomed in 1941 at the age of 25 with the vision to build “a great center for human progress through scientific research.” He was an oilman, rancher, entrepreneur and philanthropist who used his great energies and wealth to promote science, education and the advancement of global peace. He passed away at age 46 in a private plane crash in 1962.

Henry C. McGill Jr., MD: Dr. McGill joined the organization in 1973 and became the first Scientific Director in 1979, a position he held through 1993. Dr. McGill conducted foundational research into atherosclerosis – the buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances in and on artery walls. He was on the board that oversaw a landmark 10-year, $150 million study by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute that conclusively showed lowering cholesterol can reduce incidence of fatal heart attacks.

Cecil M. DiNunno and James E. Burdett Jr.: The scientists are developing methods to produce novel compounds for contraceptive research. At the time in 1980, the Institute’s Department of Organic and Biological Chemistry was a nationally funded center for synthesizing compounds for researchers nationwide studying contraceptive options for both men and women.

Olga Gonzalez, DVM, DACVP: Dr. Gonzalez is a Professor and board-certified veterinary pathologist contributing to hundreds of research studies and supporting primate colony management. Here, she is carefully analyzing a tissue sample to understand how it is affected by disease.

Chengjin Ye, PhD: Dr. Ye is a Staff Scientist working in Professor Luis Martinez-Sobrido’s lab. They use advanced techniques called “reverse genetics” to study viruses and develop antivirals and vaccines to protect humans from a wide range of threats, including influenza and COVID-19. Read in TxBiomed Magazine about late nights developing cutting-edge research tools during the height of the COVID pandemic.

Martha Avila and Ashley Price: Avila and Price are Supervisors overseeing teams caring for baboons. Avila is a trained veterinarian technician, leading the techs who help provide medical care to the primates, while Price leads the team that sees to the baboons’ daily needs, including feeding, clean housing, socialization and enrichment. Read in the magazine how this much more than a job for them.

Gloria Rodriguez, Olena Shtanko, PhD, Carmen Bartley: Rodriguez (foreground) is a Research Associate in Applied Science & Innovation (ASI); Dr. Shtanko is an Assistant Professor studying high-consequence pathogens; and Bartley is the ASI Molecular Diagnostics Lab Manager. Here, the researchers work in the Texas Biomed biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) lab, a secure facility for studying deadly pathogens. Studies in the BSL-4 have helped lead to treatments and vaccines for a variety of global threats, including anthrax, Ebola virus and Marburg virus.

Bottom Row (L to R):

Marmoset: SNPRC is home to the largest breeding colony of marmosets in the U.S. supported by the National Institutes of Health, with about 500 and counting. They are the smallest of our primates – about the size of a large squirrel – typically weighing about a half pound. Marmosets are very helpful to understand reproduction, development, obesity and aging, including cognitive decline and conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. Team members here pioneered marmoset models for biomedical research and helped write the books on how to best care for them. Read more.

Larry Schlesinger, MD: Dr. Schlesinger is a world-recognized expert in lung immunology and tuberculosis. He was recruited to become Texas Biomed’s President and CEO in 2017, where he is overseeing the execution of a 10-Year Strategic Plan to modernize and grow the Institute. Thanks to his relentless energy and passionate leadership, coupled with the dedicated support of the Texas Biomed Board of Trustees and the expertise and hard work of so many others, the new Health Center and larger Animal Care Complex is a reality today.

Shannan Hall-Ursone, DVM: Dr. Hall-Ursone is one of 11 veterinarians on staff caring for more than 2,500 research animals on campus. She is an Associate Professor and serves as Assistant Director of Veterinary Resources, helping oversee veterinary teams to ensure expert health care for all animals, as well as supporting research studies. Read more about Dr. Hall-Ursone and her passion for animal medicine.

Baboon: SNPRC has been home to baboons since the mid-1950s and hosts the largest pedigreed baboon colony in the United States, with precise genetic and breeding information going back eight generations. Baboons are important for studying diseases like heart disease, cardiovascular disease and metabolic conditions like diabetes. The development of a premature baboon model in the 1980s helped lead to the development of the high-frequency ventilator that now saves lives of human babies born prematurely around the world.

Blake Harrington: Harrington spent many years caring for baboons and leading teams of caretakers. He now serves as a Project Manager in Facilities & Operations to help ensure our campus provides the best spaces for both animals and people.

Edward Dick, DVM, DACVP: Dr. Dick is a Professor and board-certified veterinary pathologist who supports the health of our nonhuman primate colonies and hundreds of research studies (and is retiring in 2026). Here, he is looking at a slide with a thin slice of preserved tissue, which can be used to make discoveries about how a disease affects that tissue or reacts to a new medicine or vaccine.

Macaque: Macaques are the most common nonhuman primates in biomedical research because their immune systems react similarly to humans’ during respiratory illnesses, such as tuberculosis and COVID-19. They also are susceptible to the nonhuman primate version of HIV, called SIV. Macaques have been pivotal in many studies to advance HIV treatments and COVID-19 vaccines, among many, many other successes in human medicine.

Photographs by:

Unknown | Historical

Josh Huskin | Current People Photos

Jenae Escobar | Marmoset

Kathy West | Baboon

Laura Petersen | Macaque

 Updated April 2026