New Galveston National Laboratory

The $167 million Galveston National Laboratory is one of only two such facilities funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease/National Institutes of Health that serves as part of a national biodefense network. This 172,000-sf state-of-the-art biocontainment research facility provides much-needed laboratory space for researchers from around the United States and includes BSL-4 laboratories, as well as supporting BSL-3 and BSL-2 laboratories and BSL-4, BSL-3, and BSL-2 animal laboratories. Research conducted within the facility focuses on developing therapies, vaccines, and diagnostic tests for microbes that might be used by bioterrorists, as well as on naturally occurring emerging infections such as SARS and West Nile virus.