San Antonio, TX., March 11, 2025 – – Nine scientists at Texas Biomedical Research Institute will share in philanthropic research grants this year totaling more than half a million dollars. The annual awards will support the study of some of the world’s most deadly pathogens, potentially leading to new treatments and better control of infectious diseases.
Each year, The Douglass Foundation and the Texas Biomedical Forum provide generous support for the life-changing research being conducted by scientists at Texas Biomed. The Douglass Foundation was established in 1982 by late founder Donald Douglass in support of science, education entrepreneurship and art. Founded in 1970, the Texas Biomedical Forum funds early-stage research at the Institute and has awarded nearly $5 million to pilot studies, which has been used to leverage over $90 million in subsequent competitive grants for Texas Biomed scientists.
The 2025 award fund totals $542,000 and will enable critical research of numerous diseases including cancer, tuberculosis, dengue, Ebola and influenza, among others.
“These grants will support critical research into some of the world’s most lethal diseases,” said Shelley Cole, Ph.D., Interim Vice President for Research at Texas Biomed. “We are grateful for the generosity of The Douglass Foundation and the Texas Biomedical Forum. Their gifts enable our talented researchers to conduct vital studies that will help further our knowledge of these diseases and lead to improved prevention and treatment options.”
This year’s award recipients are:
2025 Texas Biomed Graduate Fellowship, supported by the Douglass Foundation
- Ramya Barre (PI: Dr. Luis Martinez-Sobrido): By January 2025, an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu had dominated national headlines in the United States, caused widespread culling of livestock across multiple states and resulted in 66 confirmed human cases of flu and one death. Barre will work on generating fluorescent and bioluminescent cattle-origin H5N1 influenza viruses for real-time tracking of influenza infection and assessing the efficacy of innovative live attenuated vaccines. Highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza viruses caused outbreaks in wild and domestic birds. Now, its host range includes other mammalian species, including dairy cattle and humans. Studying influenza viruses requires secondary methodologies, which can be expensive and time-consuming. Fluorescent and bioluminescent H5N1 influenza viruses have a reporter gene, which will give an advantage to studying these viruses more efficiently visually in cells and animal models. Using these viruses, one can track the viral replication, which will be very beneficial in identifying antiviral drugs, antibodies and vaccines.
2025 Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Kennedy Omufwoko: Some parasites can mix and match their genes when two different species interbreed, which can affect how they spread, adapt and even respond to treatments. Omufwoko’s study will focus on two Schistosoma parasite species that infect humans and animals. By examining individual parasite cells in detail, he aims to understand how hybridization changes their gene activity and metabolism. These genetic changes could impact how well current drugs work against them. By uncovering these effects, this research could help improve disease control and treatment strategies.
2025 Forum Postdoctoral Award, supported by the Texas Biomedical Forum
- Jake Lehle (PI: Dr. Diako Ebrahimi): The National Institutes of Health estimates that approximately 20% of human cancers are caused by infectious agents and are potentially preventable. Dr. Lehle will analyze single-cell sequencing data from approximately 25,000 tumors to investigate the relationship between viral infections and gene dysregulation in cancer. His research aims to uncover the molecular mechanisms of known oncoviruses while also identifying novel viruses that may contribute to specific cancer types. By gaining these insights, he hopes to facilitate the development of diagnostic tools that support personalized medicine, enabling enhanced screening and earlier cancer detection, particularly in populations affected by chronic infections.
2025 Forum Staff Scientist award, supported by the Texas Biomedical Forum
- Ahmed Elsayed: Dr. Elsayed is working on developing a new bird flu vaccine that is both safe and effective. This vaccine will be designed to protect against several different types of bird flu viruses that are currently spreading and have the potential to infect humans. It will be a live-attenuated vaccine, using a weakened form of the virus to mimic a natural infection without causing illness. The overall goal is to create a vaccine that provides strong, long-lasting protection by enhancing the body’s ability to produce specific antibodies, which effectively neutralize the invading virus, and T cells, which help the immune system identify and destroy infected cells.
- Nathalia Rodrigues de Almeida: Dr. Rodrigues de Almeida is looking to identify which molecules are responsible for producing immune responses triggered by bacteria strains. She is particularly focused on MAIT cells, a type of immune cell that plays an important role in the early response to infections. To accomplish this goal, she will use an approach called functional metabolomics, which identifies the chemical structure of the molecules that are found in a complex cocktail produced by bacteria based on the molecule’s mass, often referred to as “molecular weight.” This approach allows her to narrow down the specific types of molecules that possess immune stimulatory activity. Identifying specific and/or novel molecules that are crucial to immune responses is important for the development of new drugs to treat infectious diseases.
- Hussin Rothan: Dengue virus is a major global health concern, affecting nearly 400 million individuals worldwide each year and resulting in approximately 21,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). It causes severe illness and complications. Dr. Rothan will focus on developing small molecules that direct viral protein (NS4B) and key host factor (MIF) to cellular degradation. This will reduce virus replication and disease severity. Targeting both the virus and the body’s response could lead to new treatments that better control dengue infections.
- Chengjin Ye: Dr. Ye is interested in the roles of viral proteins and their interactions with host cellular pathways. These interactions offer valuable insights into strategies to combat virus-mediated diseases caused by arenaviruses, influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging pathogens. With this grant, Dr. Ye will investigate the function of NSP3, a nonstructural protein found in coronaviruses that cause COVID-19. Specifically, he will focus on its role as an enzyme interfering with the host’s innate immune response, and how this helps the virus adapt to humans and increase transmissibility between people.
2025 Forum Faculty Award, supported by the Texas Biomedical Forum
- Victoria Baxter: Most laboratory rodents are raised in ultra clean conditions, which results in animals having immature immune systems that lack the diversity seen in humans. Dr. Baxter aims to determine how exposing laboratory guinea pigs to a set of infections alters their immune systems, with the goal of establishing a guinea pig model that better replicates the human immune response and which can be used to test potential therapies.
- Smita Kulkarni: Mitochondria, the powerhouse of cells, control complex metabolic processes and the sensing of viral pathogens. Viral infections, such as Ebola, often hijack mitochondrial functions. Dr. Kulkarni will employ a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to systematically study the impact of each mitochondrial pathway component on Ebola virus pathogenesis using a high throughput genomic screen. Dr. Kulkarni will perform these studies in collaboration with experts in Ebola virology (Dr. Olena Shtanko) and single-cell genomics (Dr. Ian Cheeseman) at Texas Biomed.