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t m c » p u l s e | a u g u s t 2 0 1 4 6 t m c » p u l s e | a u g u s t 2 0 1 4 This escalation prompted David Walker, M.D., director of UTMB's Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, to propose the creation of the United States' first full-scale Biosafety Level 4 laboratory on a university campus. In the mid- 1990s, Walker's recruitment of eminent virologists Robert Shope and Robert Tesh, who left Yale for Galveston in 1995, commanded global attention while simultaneously stimulating the expansion of UTMB's infectious disease program. They brought with them the World Reference Center for Arboviruses, a priceless collection of thousands of different virus strains collected from all over the globe and freeze-dried for storage. As Walker enlisted a talented troupe of scien- tists to join his expanding team in Galveston—including Alan Barrett, Ph.D., an eminent pathologist and cur- rent director of UTMB's Sealy Center for Vaccine Development, and Scott Weaver, Ph.D., a pathology professor who would become scientific director of the Galveston National Laboratory— he realized the necessity of a maxi- mum containment lab to work on the diseases that interested them, from tick- borne encephalitis to chikungunya. After an extended approval pro- cess while community support was garnered and fears were assuaged, the Robert E. Shope M.D. BSL4 Laboratory broke ground in 2002 and was offi- cially dedicated in 2004. "The Shope Laboratory turned out to be incredibly visionary," recalled Weaver. "It opened up new opportunities for our research programs and gave us experience not only in running this facility but interacting with the community here to develop the kind of relationship that you need to secure that level of trust." UTMB faculty meet regularly with their Community Advisory Board, a group of approximately 60 members of profes- sional and civic organizations, to keep them informed on the important work being done at UTMB and to get their it's all about the people here. it's great that we built this incredible building, but it wasn't until we commissioned it and brought the people in that we started to see the magic happen, which is what drives scientific discoveries. — Joan nichols, Ph.D. associate director of research and Operations for the Galveston National Laboratory Joan Nichols, Ph.d.