Top 10 ways San Antonio is shaping Texas biomedical research

Biomedical research has the potential to drastically improve our lives by combating pervasive diseases through new medications, vaccines and treatments.

Leading Texas’ biomedical research efforts is The San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI). SALSI brings together renowned experts from around the world to find cutting-edge solutions to a variety of pressing issues, including brain disease, developing life-saving drugs and building Texas' sorely needed health sciences workforce.

Here are the top 10 ways that SALSI is shaping the landscape of biomedical research in Texas

1. Empowers cutting-edge research: Researchers are using genomics, metabolomics, cell & tissue culture, and tissue characterization to advance important research on cancer, infectious diseases and more.

2. Brings big research grants to Texas: SALSI has received over $20M in follow-on funding that is being leveraged to push discovery to new heights. It also is bringing more National Institutes of Health – the nation’s core medical research agency - funding to the state.

3. Advances bioinformatics and discoveries: Research needs dedicated equipment. SALSI helps push the bounds of developmental biology through state-of-the-art instrumentation acquisition and specialized facilities upgrades for genomics, metabolomics, cell and tissue culture, and tissue characterization.

4. Elevates Texas’ national reputation: In 2022, The University of Texas at San Antonio was recognized as an R1 institution by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. SALSI was instrumental to this effort, which fuels not only the university and San Antonio’s national reputation for world-class research and biomedical innovation, but Texas’ as well.

5. Attracts world-class faculty to Texas: Talented people want to work in Texas and opportunities available through SALSI help bring them here. SALSI has helped grow our state’s list of experts in sectors such as AI, bioinformatics, brain health, health disparities and human performance.

6. Develops our community: SALSI funding has become the foundation for San Antonio’s health and biomedical research community. By supporting a range of impactful collaborative programs including the San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics, Brain Health Consortium, Vaccine Development Center of San Antonio, RegenMed SA and Center for Innovative Drug Discovery, SALSI has created a dynamic local ecosystem for these important efforts.

7. Increases collaboration between research powerhouses: SALSI has supported dozens of conferences and collaboration events, including the San Antonio Military Health System and Universities Research Forum. By bringing together industry, government and academia, challenges can be tackled jointly rather than as siloed efforts.

8. Supports promising new programs: Since its inception, SALSI has supported collaborative pilot programs in brain health, COVID-19, drug discovery and precision therapeutics. Investing in these initiatives allows new discoveries to be made that otherwise may have taken much longer to come to fruition.

9. Expands Texas’ healthcare workforce: Texas desperately needs more healthcare workers. The SASLI program builds the state’s health sciences workforce by providing salaries, stipends, fellowships and start-up packages for strategic faculty hires, post-docs, technicians, graduate students and undergraduate researchers.

10. Provides science students with real-world experience: Undergraduate and graduate internships are key to introducing students to how research works outside the classroom. SALSI introduces the next generation of Texas talent to industry connections and practical experiences.

At SALSI, discoveries are being made that will improve life not only for today’s Texans, but also for countless people in the decades to come.