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Texas Biomed president and CEO Kenneth P. Trevett named health care hero for philanthropy by San Antonio Business Journal

Kenneth P. Trevett, J.D., president and chief executive officer of the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, has been designated a 2014 ‘Health Care Hero’ in the philanthropic champion category by the San Antonio Business Journal. The annual award honors leaders in the city’s health care and biomedical fields. All 20 awardees will be recognized at a reception on May 7 at the McNay Art Museum.

“Ken has given generously of his time, intellect and fundraising prowess to become one of the strongest advocates for the biomedical research and healthcare industry in San Antonio,” said Dick Schlosberg, chair of Texas Biomed’s board of trustees.

Trevett has led Texas Biomed since September, 2008. In addition, he serves on the boards of the San Antonio Medical Foundation and BioMed SA, the non-profit organization charged with promoting San Antonio’s healthcare and bioscience sector.

Trevett is now in his fourth term as chair of BioMed SA’s executive committee, succeeding founding chair and former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros in 2011. In this capacity, Trevett plays a pivotal role in growing San Antonio’s burgeoning biomedical sector by promoting the success of local companies and institutions, developing and attracting talent and expanding funding opportunities through investment capital, philanthropic donations and grant funding

In 2012, Trevett was a driving force behind formation of the San Antonio Vaccine Development Center, a partnership that includes the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the University of Texas at San Antonio, Southwest Research Institute and Texas Biomed. The center leverages and builds on core scientific resources, expertise and talent at the four institutions to develop new vaccines. Trevett was responsible for raising the necessary funds to launch the collaborative center.

He also played a key role in fundraising for Texas Biomed’s new Earl Slick Research Center, a $27 million, 70,000-square-foot laboratory and scientific support complex which opened in late March of this year. The building, with 15 new laboratories, is part of a major effort to recruit more world-class scientists and extend Texas Biomed’s research programs. A new initiative in stem cell and regenerative medicine will add to strong programs in virology, genetics, and nonhuman primate research.  On a related note, Trevett and BioMed SA played a key role in attracting the World Stem Cell Summit to San Antonio in December 2014.

Trevett has worked as a senior administrator and legal counsel in biomedical research, education, and clinical institutions for over 30 years. His positions include assistant dean for administration at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and assistant to the director and house counsel at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. He served as the first general counsel of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, chief operating officer and general counsel at the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston and president and CEO of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute.

From 1993 to 1995, he was the volunteer president of the Association of Independent Research Institutes, a nationwide association of more than 80 not-for-profit research organizations.

Trevett also serves on the executive committee of the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County and is a board member of the Texas Research and Technology Foundation.  He is a member of the advisory committee of the Southwest Research Institute and the ad hoc technology licensing committee of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  He is the founding chair of the national advisory committee of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writers.

Texas Biomed, formerly the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, is one of the world’s leading independent biomedical research institutions dedicated to advancing health worldwide through innovative biomedical research.  Located on a 200-acre campus on the northwest side of San Antonio, Texas, the Institute partners with hundreds of researchers and institutions around the world, targeting advances in the fight against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, psychiatric disorders, problems of pregnancy, AIDS, hepatitis, malaria, parasitic infections and a host of other infectious diseases.  For more information on Texas Biomed, go to www.TxBiomed.org.