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A Critical Piece of the HIV Puzzle: Solved

Helen Horton, Ph.D., stands at the whiteboard in her office. Her face lights up as she draws an illustration to explain her latest research findings – reflecting the excitement of scientific discovery. Many times people assume that research ends in a “eureka” finding resulting in a full-blown solution, but more often research builds upon itself, filling in yet another small piece of the disease puzzle. And each step in that discovery process provides new hope.

Predictive Power: Revolutionizing Malaria Vaccine Discovery

After Seattle BioMed announced its bold plan to integrate a systems biology approach with its infectious disease research, malaria researchers wasted no time in incorporating this new method.

Reiling Liao: Solving Mysteries of an Old Disease

Reiling Liao spends each day in the lab working to find new drugs for one of the world's oldest and wily diseases: tuberculosis. "I've always been curious," says Liao. "The first words that come to my mind are always 'how' and 'why'."

Gladys Keitany: From Bench to Bedside

Scientific research can be a tedious job. Hours upon hours can be spent in the lab working on one experiment that may ultimately lead to a new hypothesis and another round of experiments. So what is Gladys Keitany's reason for doing research? "Malaria is a neglected disease."

Jason Carnes: Small Clues, Big Cures

When it comes to discovering how things work, Jason Carnes asks a lot of questions. And he's always looking for the scientific explanation.Carnes’ mom — a life sciences teacher — offered scientific answers to typical childhood questions. "I never heard 'the stork dropped you off','" Carnes laughs. He decided discovering new scientific answers was the career for him.

Larry Roseman: Planning Ahead

"I don’t dream – I plan ahead," said Seattle BioMed supporter Larry Roseman. "I was raised in the Great Depression, so tenacity, innovation and thrift are ways of life for me. All my life I've made and maintained five-year plans."

Ever since entering the army in World War II, Roseman has worked for the protection of the United States. After finishing his engineering degree, he entered the aerospace field and developed a finite element analysis technique for large structures at Boeing.

Christine Czark-Atkins: Supporting Vaccine Research

Seattle BioMed supporter Christine Czark-Atkins has travelled a lot and has seen the heart-warming and heart-wrenching sides to many different cultures. "Since my daughter Cooper was born, I have especially paid attention to the ways people bring up children in other parts of the world," said Czark-Atikins. "Everyone has the same hopes and dreams for their kids, but they don’t have the same resources and opportunities."

Marissa Vignali: Making Mosquitoes Exciting

Growing up in Uruguay, Vignali always liked animals. She would gather insects and rocks on the beach. "I was what you might call a naturalist," she said. "But when I got older, I decided to study molecular biology. I wanted to understand how cells worked and how they turned genes on and off."

Boniface Mailu: A Mentor to Future Scientists

Boniface Mailu, Ph.D., Seattle BioMed postdoctoral scientist in the Gardner lab, suffered and survived several bouts of malaria by his second birthday in his native Mombasa, Kenya. Today, he is dedicating his career to infectious disease research.

Shahin Shafiani: Working Toward a Scientific Paradise

Shahin Shafiani grew up in Iran until age 13 and then moved with some relatives to India because his sister was going to medical school there. He first became interested in biology at age 15, and a lot of credit for that goes to his biology teacher. "She made everything sound like a story and made it sound and look natural," said Shafiani

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