Outgoing Chair Jamo Rubin, M.D., honored for historic term that elevated the Institute’s global reputation and drew top industry partners
SAN ANTONIO (August 8, 2024) – Craig Boyan, President of H-E-B, the beloved Texas-based grocery chain, has assumed the chairmanship of Texas Biomedical Research Institute’s Board of Trustees.
Jamo Rubin, M.D., has helmed Texas Biomed’s Board of Trustees since early 2016, during which time he strategically led the campaign to recruit current President/CEO Larry Schlesinger, M.D. Dr. Rubin also collaborated on a new, 10-year Strategic Plan that positioned the Institute to help bring a global pandemic under control. Dr. Rubin is moving into the Board’s Vice Chair role.
“Craig and Jamo are dynamic, experienced leaders who are actively shaping the future of Texas Biomed as we continue to grow and modernize our campus,” says Dr. Schlesinger. “Jamo – with his entrepreneurial skillset – laid a strong foundation and focused us in on a mission of infectious disease research and innovation. That laid the groundwork for Craig to get right to work with the Board on scaling ideas into investments to speed today’s scientific discoveries into tomorrow’s cures.”
Founded in 1941, Texas Biomed is undergoing its most significant transformation to date with over $200 million in projects completed, in active design or in the preparation/implementation phase. The projects are upgrading critical infrastructure, modernizing and replacing buildings and labs, as well as supporting the expansion of scientific faculty and research capacity.
Mr. Boyan is well-equipped to steer Texas Biomed through this new phase. He has overseen significant and continuous business growth while maintaining people-based values and culture at H-E-B since joining the company in 2005 – first as Chief Strategic Officer and Chief Operating Officer, before becoming President in 2010.
“Texas Biomed is such an important organization for the world and for our local San Antonio community,” says Mr. Boyan, who first joined the Texas Biomed Board in 2012. “I am honored to be entrusted with this role and look forward to continuing the history of this great place, as well as the momentum that Jamo, Larry and the Board have built in recent years.”
Texas Biomed is about halfway through its 10-year Strategic Plan to double the size of its faculty and employee base, as well as modernize its campus infrastructure. As part of its mission to protect the world from infectious diseases like COVID-19, Ebola virus and tuberculosis, the Institute operates specialized, high-containment laboratories and the Southwest National Primate Research Center, one of seven such federal centers in the US dedicated to biomedical research.
“Texas Biomed is truly one-of-a-kind with its combination of resources, talent and independent, nonprofit structure,” says Dr. Rubin. “It has been so gratifying to see Texas Biomed grow and be recognized as an international leader in infectious disease research. There is still a lot of work ahead to achieve our bold vision and I am excited to see it through with Craig leading the charge.”
During the Spring Annual Board Meeting, the Institute and Board of Trustees honored Dr. Rubin for his dedicated leadership, which spanned eight years, a historic three terms. He was recognized for being instrumental in recruiting Dr. Schlesinger from The Ohio State University to lead Texas Biomed as President/CEO starting in 2017. (Read the behind-the-scenes story in TxBiomed magazine.) Together, Dr. Schlesinger and the Board strengthened the Institute’s mission to focus on infectious disease research and development, and significantly grew the Institute’s research partnerships with industry, government, military and others through contract research.
The foresight and legwork meant Texas Biomed was positioned to test COVID-19 vaccines and treatments for Pfizer, Novavax, Regeneron and others, helping advance them to market in record time. Dr. Rubin recalled the feeling as he administered vaccines at the Alamodome when the shots were first being rolled out.
“I’ll never be able to explain the surreal sense of pride I experienced,” he says. “There I was, sitting underneath a handwritten ‘Pfizer’ sign, giving the vaccine that Texas Biomed literally helped bring to market.”