2 min read January 2022 — In an interview with Invest:, Larry Schlesinger, president and CEO of Texas Biomedical Research Institute, talked about continuing the institute’s mission throughout the pandemic and being a key factor in the development of vaccines. Schlesinger also spoke on how the company remains innovative and how it is uniquely positioned to attract talent and continue to grow.
What are the biggest ways you continued to grow despite the challenges of the past year?
During the pandemic, we have actually had an unprecedented amount of growth and evolution related to our mission which is to protect you, your family and the global community from the threat of infectious diseases. We are uniquely positioned in the market to advance infectious disease R&D and to take advantage of our unique scientific expertise and resources.
We’ve been in San Antonio for 80 years, have nearly 400 employees and sit on over 200 acres of campus. We developed a 10-year strategic plan, which was approved by the board of trustees in June 2018 and officially launched January 2019. The vision is focused on doubling our size at the institute and building best practice programs for employees. We want to broaden our educational portfolio and advance a business development unit. The third part of the vision is a major renovation to our campus.
What has been the Institute’s impact on the community and economy?
We reach out to the community with educational programming and biomedical science, partnering not only with schools but with museums and other organizations within the city. Texas Biomed reaches an average of 10,000 students, teachers and parents annually. This, to me, is an investment for the future and an investment in our students. It allows them to encounter a very unique research environment and discover different ways to reach excellence and satisfaction in their chosen careers. We have a very sophisticated technical staff and consequently high-wage-earning employees at our institute. Our 10-year strategic plan has an estimated cost of about $270 million, but the return on that investment is estimated to be in the ballpark of $3 billion to the economy of San Antonio. That is largely due to our doubling of highly talented personnel and broadening our research scope and reach. The other way we improve the economy is by continuing to be content experts and leaders in communicating the challenges to human health. We have been front and center in the community, providing facts about the pandemic. By disseminating proper information, we ensure the safety and health of our community. We are directly involved in the enhancement and development of COVID-19 therapies and vaccines.
How important are partnerships to Texas Biomedical?
The pandemic has taught us that we need to accelerate discoveries and translate them into diagnostic therapies and vaccines for human disease. Research requires partnerships; incremental advancement is no longer satisfactory. Our collaborations with researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, for example, enabled us to successfully launch a developmental center for AIDS research funded by the National Institutes of Health. This example shows how one wins by working together. Our collaborations, which number more than 200 thus far, allow us to make leaps rather than incremental advancements. Science is a global enterprise and works best when investigators work together.
How have you managed the labor shortage?
For an institute like ours, we need a higher level of technical expertise to accomplish our goals and that requires a lot of training. One approach is to grow within the city of San Antonio. There are programs specifically designed to enhance the training of individuals within the city and bring people through the pipeline so they become better trained as employees of the Institute. The second approach is recruitment of outstanding stars throughout the country. For example, we have been successful in bringing in top-level scientists from coast to coast and they in turn become an attractive force for others to join. Also, going to outside markets grows our brand nationally.
What innovations have been helpful and what is coming down the pipeline?
There is a huge upstream pipeline of infectious disease research going on to enable us to bring new diagnostics, therapies and vaccines to market. The preclinical space, which doesn’t get as much press as clinical trials, is where Texas Biomed thrives. We don’t have siloed departments here. We work with interfacing programs that are similar to the Olympic circles. When the pandemic started, we brought all of our scientists into a room and asked ourselves how we could make a difference. That is how we came up with the idea to bring our animal model development into the COVID space in record time.
What positions will you hire the most in 2022?
In 2022, our focus is on faculty recruitment: finding outstanding independent scientists who can bring research programs to Texas Biomed. We will also grow our staff in accordance with that faculty growth.
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