May 26, 2020 — The San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics (SAPPT) along with the Vaccine Development Center of San Antonio (VDCOSA) received a $1 million donation for critical COVID-19 medical research and equipment.
USAA and The USAA Foundation, Inc. officials announced the donation as part of an over $6 million gift benefiting local organizations and military families affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
“San Antonio’s medical research community is on the front lines of developing vaccines and treatments for COVID-19,” said Harriet Dominique, USAA senior vice president for corporate responsibility and community affairs. “Working collaboratively, these organizations are seeking to achieve outcomes greater than they could accomplish individually. We are honored to support their efforts to help stop the spread of this deadly disease.”
The current pandemic has further validated the global importance of San Antonio’s collaborative bioscience ecosystem. Southwest Research Institute, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, and The University of Texas at San Antonio are working together to combat COVID-19 through their established SAPPT and VDCOSA partnerships for research related to diagnostics, therapies and vaccines.
Launched in 2019 to accelerate drug discovery, SAPPT employs precision medicine principles to maximize therapy effectiveness, accounting for the unparalleled population diversity of the San Antonio region. Established in 2014, VDCOSA supports communication on vaccine research, performs public outreach and education on vaccines with city partners and funds innovative collaborative research on vaccine development in San Antonio.
“The USAA Foundation, Inc.’s generous contribution will catalyze the collaborative COVID-19 research efforts of the established partnership between these nationally leading organizations,” said Dr. Larry Schlesinger, president and CEO of Texas Biomedical Research Institute. “This contribution will be a huge boost to the further development of SAPPT, leading efforts in cutting-edge research that will generate new, more effective therapies for our diverse population in San Antonio and beyond.”
The partnerships have streamlined non-profit infrastructures that are designed to vet and begin projects quickly. The combined large network of institutional labs and teams of researchers with a history of collaborating are uniquely positioned to lead global COVID-19 intervention efforts.
For more information, visit Pharmaceutical Development or contact Lisa Peña at +1 210 522 2046, Communications Department, Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78238-5166.