Profile: Seattle Biomedical Research Institute

SLUFAN

Driving down Westlake Avenue, people passing through the South Lake Union neighborhood experience a brief flash of beautiful colors blue, orange, yellow, violet directly in front of the entrance to the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI) Building. And, without knowing it, they've had a brief science lesson.

Seattle artist Linda Beaumont created the artwork that flanks the entrance to the SBRI Building to introduce SBRI's science focused on global infectious disease research to the South Lake Union neighborhood. Two multi-layered glass screens in front of the building create street art called "Labyrinth," which is a large-scale depiction of a portion of the genome sequence of Leishmania major, a parasite that causes leishmaniasis. Researchers at SBRI recently completed sequencing the Leishmania genome, which can potentially lead to new drugs and treatments for the devastating skin disease that affects 12 million people.

Founded in 1976, SBRI is the largest independent, non-profit organization in the United States focused solely on infectious disease research. The mission of SBRI's nearly 200 employees, who moved to the SBRI Building at the corner of Westlake and Thomas in early 2004, is to eliminate the world's most devastating infectious diseases through leadership in scientific discovery. SBRI's research targets the world's most underserved populations: the 14 million people who die each year from diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, as well as other lesser known, but equally deadly diseases, including African sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. SBRI's discoveries are the basis for new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines that provide long-term solutions to the world's biggest health problems.

For more information, visit www.sbri.org.