Texas Lab Celebrates 85 Years of Lifesaving Discoveries

What started as a farm laboratory with the occasional rattlesnake has become one of the world's most important disease-fighting research centers.

In 1941, a 25-year-old dreamer named Thomas Baker Slick Jr. turned 1,500 acres of San Antonio ranchland into what he called a "city of science." His bold bet on the power of scientific discovery has paid off in ways that touch millions of lives today.

Throughout 2026, Texas Biomedical Research Institute is celebrating 85 years of medical breakthroughs. The institution's researchers have helped develop a high-frequency ventilator that revolutionized care for premature infants, giving tiny lungs the chance to grow strong.

Their work reaches far beyond one invention. Scientists at Texas Biomed conducted crucial early studies of hepatitis B vaccines now used globally to prevent liver disease and cancer. They also contributed foundational research that led to understanding and ultimately curing hepatitis C, a disease that once meant a slow, certain decline.

As deadly infectious diseases emerged as global threats, the institute positioned itself on the front lines. Its researchers have worked on vaccines and treatments for HIV, Ebola virus, and tuberculosis. The facility houses one of only seven National Primate Research Centers in the country and the nation's only privately owned maximum containment laboratory for studying the world's most dangerous pathogens.

These specialized labs allow scientists to safely study diseases that would be impossible to research elsewhere. Only a handful of facilities across the country have the capability to handle such work.

The Ripple Effect

The impact of discoveries made on that former ranchland west of San Antonio now circles the globe. Premature babies in hospitals thousands of miles away breathe easier because of ventilators developed there. Millions of people receive hepatitis vaccines that trace their origins to studies conducted in those labs.

Young researchers today work in state-of-the-art facilities that would amaze Thomas Slick, but they carry forward his original vision: science as a force for good in the world.

Eighty-five years after one young visionary invested in scientific discovery, his "city of science" continues proving that bold ideas, given time and dedication, can change the world for the better.