Center for Vaccine Development

Creating a multidisciplinary research center designed to conduct basic and clinical research on new vaccines and biologics would synergize Tulane’s unique capacity under one umbrella. By connecting our talented researchers and arming them with resources to harness the power of vaccines to prevent disease, we could truly save the lives of some of the most vulnerable populations. The Center for Vaccine Development would be an academic enterprise engaged in the full range of infectious disease intervention from: basic laboratory research through vaccine development, pre-clinical and clinical evaluation, large-scale pre-licensure field studies and post-licensure assessments.

Institute for Clinical Studies and Data Analysis

The capacity in the clinical trials is currently very limited. This capacity – more than anything else – is the main factor holding back the growth of Tulane’s clinical research. Only 12 percent of our current funding comes from clinical trials, which is lower than most universities. In particular, we are in desperate need for more nurse coordinators and space, and we have relatively few physician-scientists with expertise in running complex clinical protocols. Support for a newly developed Institute for Clinical Studies and Data Analysis would enable our researchers to accept more clinical trials and ultimately capitalize on our research growth potential. And the potential is great: Louisiana’s status as a major hotspot will provide a large patient population for conducting clinical trials based on the information collected with our pre-clinical research. For example, right now our clinical trial unit is running the clinical trials for COVID-19 drugs sarilumab and remdesivir – two very work-intensive protocols that are taking full clinical capacity – which requires 7 days-a-week of work. Imagine the possibilities our research could provide if we had the support we needed to grow.

A Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory on the Downtown Campus

Expanding our downtown campus biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) lab at Tulane would bolster the university’s work as a top research university. Currently, Tulane’s primary BSL-3 lab is the National Primate Research Center in Covington, Louisiana. Because of its BSL-3 status, the center was one of the first nationwide laboratories to receive live samples of the novel coronavirus, allowing Tulane scientists to jump ahead in the fight against COVID-19.

Meaningfully expanding our downtown BSL-3 lab would make a tremendous impact on our COVID-19 basic research as well as on other diseases that require similar containment. The federal government ranks biosafety laboratories between one to four, with level 3 labs qualified to handle agents deemed as significant public health threats. Level 3 labs have special airflow systems, two sets of self- closing and locking doors and require employees to be highly trained and wear protective equipment. Located in the downtown medical district, our secondary BSL-3 lab is located close to researchers from the School of Medicine and School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine allowing for high level research to safely occur without our researchers having to travel to Covington. Additionally, growing this lab would provide support for our recently establish COVID-19 BioBank — a crucial part of Tulane’s fight against the novel coronavirus.

Tulane COVID-19 Biobank

A biobank is a collection of biological samples and health information. The Tulane Biobank will collect, store and tissue samples from biopsies and autopsies of COVID-19 patients to be shared with interested investigators inside and outside of Tulane. The Office of Research has just committed $25,000 in addition to $10,000 provided by the School of Medicine, but an additional $100,000 is needed if we want to store biological samples from live patients (biopsies and research National Primate Research Center specimens) in addition to autopsies. The primary expense would be for a highly qualified RN to collect the samples.

Animal Models and Non-Human Primate Testing

Tulane researchers are already working on creating mouse and non-human primate models, but these models could be ready much faster with additional funds to collect pilot data. We have a variety of animal models to explore how the virus enters a living organism, causes disease and interacts with the immune system of the host. An animal model is the quickest and best way to ensure we find a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine and treatments. Research with nonhuman primates (NHPs) – monkeys for the most part – has led to critical health advances that have saved or improved millions of human lives. Support is needed to add to the research capacity at the National Primate Research Center.

Tulane Research Centers of Excellence Grants

There are challenges so immense that the greatest minds must join together to solve them. Grants for Tulane Research Centers of Excellence will be given to multi-disciplinary teams composed of researchers from different schools, backgrounds and expertise. The Research Centers of Excellence will allow Tulane to compete with larger universities by utilizing the synergies across our schools. Each grant would be awarded for up to $100,000 a year and for a duration of three years from the Office of Research. This amount would be matched and shared among the schools partnering in each Center of Excellence. In addition, each chosen research idea will be required to apply for multi-million-dollar federal grants. The Tulane program will solve two challenges to research excellence at Tulane: one, encouraging researchers to break out of silos, and two, ensuring researchers strive for impressive federal research grants instead of being content with smaller, easier-to-get RO1 grants. These bigger projects will also win Tulane researchers recognition in high-impact journals. The competition will be strong for the prestigious awards, fostering many discoveries and breakthroughs.

Faculty Excellence Funds

Endowed faculty positions bring the very best scientists and research to Tulane University. Your support will not only help Tulane recruit and retain the strongest possible faculty, but also ensure our ability to educate and inspire tomorrow’s researchers. From the most prestigious positions at Tulane – Presidential Chairs – to early career professorships; endowed faculty support can make a true impact on the future of research.

Steven and Jann Paul Hall

We are embarking on one of the most ambitious capital projects in the history of the university—Steven and Jann Paul Hall for Science and Engineering. Paul Hall will provide Tulane with the ability to grow our research enterprise. Tulane needs the lab space, office space, classroom space and facilities to support world-class science and engineering. Our facilities need the power and HVAC requirements to meet today’s research and instructional laboratory needs.

When recruiting world-class faculty members, infrastructure is a critical selling factor. For science and engineering professors, the quality of laboratory space and access to shared core equipment is an essential factor in which job they will ultimately choose. Elite faculty members and researchers expect access to the finest laboratory facilities in order to effectively perform innovative research and achieve breakthroughs.

The design of Paul Hall is meant to force interaction, which has been shown to spur collaboration and creativity. Faculty will be arranged by research themes to facilitate partnership and collaboration. At the end of each floor, “hang-out” spaces will encourage meetings between students and faculty alike and different disciplines in order to spark creative connections.