Galveston National Laboratory

Short description: High security National Biocontainment Laboratory

Galveston National Laboratory

Established| November 2008
Research type| BSL-4 Biocontainment Laboratory

Field of research

| Infectious diseases
Emerging pathogens
Bioterrorism agents
Director| Gene Olinger, Laboratory Director
Scott C. Weaver, Scientific Director [1]
Staff| 300
Location| Galveston, Texas, USA
[ ⚑ ] : 29°18′38″N 94°46′43″W﻿ / ﻿29.3106°N 94.7786°W﻿ / 29.3106; -94.7786
Campus| University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Nickname| GNL
Affiliations| National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health

Operating agency

| University of Texas Medical Branch with support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and National Institutes of Health
Website| www.utmb.edu/gnl

The Galveston National Laboratory (GNL) in Galveston, Texas, United States, is a high security National Biocontainment Laboratory housing several Biosafety level 4 research laboratories. The lab is run by the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) for exotic disease diagnosis and research.[2] The GNL is one of the 15 biosecurity level 4 facilities in the United States and the largest one in the world located on an academic campus.[3][4]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Statistics
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## History

In the early 2000s, several incidents in the U.S. led to the federal government pushing for the creation of more facilities to provide research to help defend against bioterrorism attacks. Under the direction of the U.S. Congress, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) began a nationwide search for a location to build a National Biocontainment Laboratory. In 2003, UTMB was chosen by the NIH as the site for one of two such national laboratories, and a $174 million federal grant was issued to pay for its construction. The Galveston National Laboratory is one of only two such facilities in the United States.[3][4][5] The other one is the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL). In 2020, the United States Department of Education launched an investigation of the Galveston National Laboratory regarding any past interaction with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.[6]

## Statistics

Galveston National Laboratory is an eight-story structure that was built using construction standards designed to resist a Category 5 hurricane. In addition to structural design elements, other protective measures included support pilings reaching a depth of 120 feet (37 m) into the earth and the placement of all lab facilities at a height of at least 30 feet (9.1 m) above the 100-year floodplain.[4] The building houses more than 80,000 sq ft (7,400 m2) of laboratory space, of which 12,000 sq ft (1,100 m2) is dedicated to BSL-4 use. Other labs located in the building include BSL-3 facilities which research select & non-select agents in cell cultures, animal and insects.[4] The laboratory became operational in November 2008 and was dedicated by U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.[7] Attached to and functioning as a part of the GNL is the older Keiller Building, which houses additional BSL-2 and BSL-3 laboratories, including an insect BSL-3 lab. Also attached is the Shope BSL-4 lab, a smaller BSL-4 facility built in 2005.[citation needed]

## See also

* National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL)
* National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

## References

1. ↑ "Leadership". https://www.utmb.edu/gnl/about/leadership.
2. ↑ "Medical Branch formally breaks ground on lab". Galveston County Daily News. http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?wcd=74826.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 ERIC BERGER. "UTMB on biowar front line / Lab funded by federal grant will seek defenses for terror". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2003_3694825.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Kelly, Jim (January 2010). "A Port in the Storm". UTMB Magazine 10 (1): 11–13.
5. ↑ "Texas in Focus: Gulf Coast Region, Healthcare". Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/tif/gulf/pdf/07_Health_Care.pdf.
6. ↑ O’Keeffe, Kate (2020-05-01). "U.S. Probes University of Texas Links to Chinese Lab Scrutinized Over Coronavirus" (in en-US). The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-probes-university-of-texas-links-to-chinese-lab-scrutinized-over-coronavirus-11588325401.
7. ↑ Eric Berger. "UTMB / Galveston National Laboratory dedicated". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2008_4679319.

## External links

* Official Site
* Galveston National Laboratory Fact Sheet

| Scholia has a profile for Galveston National Laboratory (Q5519424).

|

* v
* t
* e

white">The University of Texas System

Academic Institutions|

* Arlington
* Austin
* Dallas
* El Paso
* Permian Basin
* Rio Grande Valley
* San Antonio
* Tyler

Health Institutions|

* MD Anderson Cancer Center
* UT Medical Branch
* UT Southwestern Medical Center
* UTHealth
* UT Health San Antonio
* UTHSC Tyler

Former Institutions|

* Brownsville (merged into Rio Grande Valley)
* Pan American (merged into Rio Grande Valley)

Administrative buildings|

* O. Henry Hall (owned 1968-2015, leased until 2017)

* University of Texas System
* Category:University of Texas System
* Portal:Texas

Template:Galveston, Texas

* v
* t
* e

United States biological defense program

Organizations|

| Federal
administrative|

| DHS|

* DHS Chemical and Biological Defense Division
* DHS Office of Health Affairs (National Biosurvelliance Integration Center, BioWatch)
* National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center
* National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
* National Bioforensic Analysis Center

|

DNI|

* National Counterproliferation Center (Advisory Committee on Bioterrorism)

DHHS|

* Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
* Division of Select Agents and Toxins (CDC)
* National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity

DoD|

* Assistant SECDEF for NCB Defense Programs
* Defense Threat Reduction Agency
* Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System
* Joint Program Executive Office of Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD)
* National Center for Medical Intelligence

Federal
research|

| Trans-
departmental|

* National Interagency Confederation for Biological Research (National Interagency Biodefense Campus, Fort Detrick)
* Integrated National Biodefense Medical Countermeasures Portfolio (DHHS/DoD)

|

Military|

* U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
* Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
* Edgewood Chemical Biological Center
* Dugway Proving Ground

Civilian|

* Galveston National Laboratory (UTMB/NIAID)
* Integrated Research Facility (HHS/NIAID)
* Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (HHS)
* Homeland Security Research Program (EPA/DHS)
* Plum Island Animal Disease Center (USDA)
* Foreign Disease Weed Science Research Unit (USDA)

Response|

| Local|

* Local Health Departments

|

State|

* State Health Departments
* Nebraska Biocontainment Patient Care Unit

Federal|

* National Medical Response Team/National Pharmacy Response Team (NDMS, HHS)
* Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (USMC)
* Epidemic Intelligence Service (CDC)
* Aeromedical Biological Containment System (CDC)
* Bioterror Rapid Response and Advanced Technology Laboratory (CDC)

Non-
governmental|

| Academic centers
& think tanks|

* Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security (formerly Center for Biosecurity)
* Henry L. Stimson Center
* Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment
* Center for Biodefense and Emerging Pathogens (Brown University)
* Middle-Atlantic Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research
* Center for Biodefense Immune Modeling (University of Rochester)
* Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies
* National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases (NCBID; George Mason Univ.)

|

Government
contractors|

* Battelle Memorial Institute
* SRI International
* Idaho Technology
* Phoenix Air

Programs
& projects|

| Threat reduction|

* Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, including the Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (DoD)
* Project Bacchus
* Project Clear Vision
* Project Jefferson

|

Biosurveillance|

* National Biosurveillance Strategy
* Laboratory Response Network (CDC)
* BioWatch (EPA, CDC)
* Global Bio-Surveillance Technology Initiative (GBTI), Bio-Surveillance Management Office (BMO) (part of JPEO-CBD)
* ESSENCE (DoD)
* RODS (Civilian)

Biosecurity/Biosurety|

* Select Agent Program (CDC)
* Personnel Reliability Program (DoD)

Medical intelligence|

* National Intelligence Assessments on Infectious Diseases

Disaster response|

* National Response Framework of the National Strategy for Homeland Security (DHS; including NIMS & ICS)
* National Disaster Medical System (DHHS)
* Strategic National Stockpile (CDC, DHS)

Technology
& equipment|

| Protection|

* MOPP
* NBC suit
* Respirators

|

Detection|

* Cell CANARY
* Biological Materials MASINT
* Autonomous Pathogen Detection System
* Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System (JBAIDS)

Biocontainment|

* Biosafety level
* Biosafety cabinet
* Positive pressure personnel suit

Law|

| Treaties|

* Geneva Protocol (1925, 1975)
* Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs (1969)
* Biological Weapons Convention (1972)

|

Legislation|

* Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989
* Executive Order 13139 (1999)
* Patriot Act (2001)
* Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness Response Act (2002)
* Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act of 2002
* Project Bioshield Act (2004)
* Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005
* Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (2005)
* Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (2006)
* Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2013

International
representation|

* Global Health Security Initiative
* Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction
* United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004)

History|

| Past biological
incidents|

* 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack
* 1989 California medfly attack
* 2001 anthrax attacks
* Wood Green ricin plot (2002)
* 2003 ricin letters
* 2013 ricin letters

|

Defunct organizations
& programs|

* United States Army Medical Unit
* United States biological weapons program
* Sunshine Project
* Aeromedical Isolation Team (DoD)

Related topics|

* Agro-terrorism
* Biodefense
* Biosecurity in the United States
* Biological agent
* Biological hazard
* Biological warfare (BW)
* Biosurveillance
* Bioterrorism
* CBRN defense
* Decontamination
* Entomological warfare
* Isolation (health care)
* Select agent
* Smallpox virus retention debate

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