Texas Biomed Staff
Thomas Folks
Associate Director, Research Resources, SNPRC | Virology and Immunology and SNPRC
Phone: 210-258-9889
Send E-mail
Summary
In 2011, the Research Resources Division at the SNPRC sponsored more than 70 scientists with $28 million in government and private support from around the country in their nonhuman primate (NHP) research endeavors. Investigative sponsored work has ranged from development of the marmoset as a model for Ebola and Marburg diseases, the effects of fetal nutrient restriction, the efficacy of TLR7 agonist for hepatitis B, and the use of ultrasonic microbubbles to reverse diabetes.
Folks works with two senior scientists who provide guidance and leadership in helping coordinate the division, Jera Pecotte, Ph.D., and Karen Rice, Ph.D. As the leader of the Biomaterials Services Group, Pecotte collects and distributes tissues for investigators worldwide; she also heads our Training and Outreach Programs. In 2010-2011, the Biomaterials Group distributed more than 1,000 NHP tissue, blood, or DNA samples to scientists for their ongoing investigations. Rice leads the Research Coordination Group, which receives, processes, and coordinates research requests by principal investigators who seek to use our NHP resources. These scientists who access the SNPRC to carry out their work are appointed as affiliates or adjunct scientists. More than 100 requests are made each year to utilize our NHP research resource.
The SNPRC has over 2,900 NHPs consisting of baboons, chimpanzees, macaques, and marmosets. Research Resources provides support to national and international scientists in gaining access to these animals. By utilizing our internal scientific expertise, research leaders specializing in particular biomedical areas—development and aging, chronic disease, infectious disease and biodefense, genetics, and translational medicine—provide guidance to external investigators seeking information on how best to use NHPs to model their study. Using this approach, the group has been able to optimize our resources and match the team of scientists with a veterinarian to accomplish the investigator’s goals. The result has been a steady increase in the number of investigators who have come, as well as those who have returned, to carry out their studies at SNPRC.
Education
Doctoral Degree: Ph.D. Biomedical Science (Microbiology) (1977)
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) San Antonio, TX
Dissertation: Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity of Human Acute Myeloid Leukemia (Advisor: Dan Thor, MD, Ph.D.)
Master's Degree: M.S. Microbiology (1972)
Texas A & M Univ, School of Veterinary Medicine TX
Thesis: Electrophoretic Studies of Serum from Horses Infected with Equine Infectious Anemia Virus
Bachelor's Degree B.A.
University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
Postdoctoral Work
Postdoctoral Research Associate Fellowship, National Research Council, Naval Medical Research Institute, Naval Medical Center, Department of Immunology, Bethesda, Maryland (Advisor: Aftab Ansari, Ph.D.)
Awards and Honors
Mar. 1977 S. Edward Sulken Award (Texas Branch, American Society for Microbiology)
Apr. 1977 National Research Council, Postdoctoral Fellowship
Mar. 1988 Weismann Scholarship Award
Apr. 1988 NIH Directors Award
Jul. 1993 Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Group Investigations Award – CDC
May 1994 James Nakano Citation – CDC (Nakano Citation)
May 1994 Nominee – Shepard Award – CDC (Nakano Citation)
May 1995 Nominee – Shepard Award – CDC (Nakano Citation)
May 1996 Nominee – Shepard Award – CDC (Nakano Citation)
Dec. 1997 Appointed Senior Biomedical Research Scientist – CDC/PHS/HHS
Jun. 2001 Twice Nominated – Shepard Award – CDC (Nakano Citation)
Jun. 2002 Nominee – Shepard Award – CDC (Nakano Citation)
Oct. 2002 Arnold G. Wedum Memorial Lecture Award
Jan. 2003 Nominee – Shepard Award – CDC (Nakano Citation)
June 2004 NCHSTP Director’s Recognition Award
June 2005 Nominee – Shepard Award – CDC (Nakano Citation)
June 2006 Nominee – Shepard Award – CDC June 2007 Nominee- Shepard Award-CDC
Patents
Patent – Folks, Powell and Martin. A cell line producing HIV-1 viral antigens without producing infectious particles.
Patent – Rabson, Leonard, Adachi, Martin, Wiley, Folks, et. al. Novel infectious clones of HIV DNA for easy mutational changes.
Patent – Kulaga, Folks, Kindt. Animal model for testing vaccines and therapeutic agents against AIDS.
Patent – Powell, Clouse, Folks. A chronically infected T cell line (ACH-2).
Patent – Butera, Perez, Folks. A unique CD4+ HIV-1 infected promyelocytic clone.
Patent – Heneine, Switzer, Yamamoto, Folks. Development of a new improved sensitive method for Reverse Transcriptase (AMP-RT) Detection.
Patent – Sandstrom, Brown, Switzer, Heneine, Folks. A new retrovirus isolated from humans.
Patent – Heneine, Garcia-Lerma, Yamamoto, Switzer, Folks. Method and kit for detecting HIV Resistance to anti-viral drugs.
Patent Pending – Critchfield, Butera, Coligan, Folks. Intracellular, second messenger, HIV inhibitor.
Patent Pending – Folks, Grovit-Ferbas, Xie, Chen. Live Replicating Spumavirus vector.
Patent – Kalish, Ndongmo, Pau, Switzer, Folks. Multiple antigenic peptide assay for detection of HIV or SIV type Retroviruses.
Patent – Robinson, Smith, Hua, Moss, Amara, Ross, Bright, Wyatt, Earl, Ellenberger, Folks, Butera. Compositions and Methods for Generating an Immune Response.
Patent Pending – Switzer, Heneine, Folks. Novel Primate T-Lymphotropic Viruses.
Publications
AIDS animal model comes of age
Folks, T.M.
J Med Primatol 40: 59-60, 2011
PubMed ID: 21204847
Prevalence of drug resistance related polymorphisms in treatment-naive individuals infected with non \subtype b HIV-1 in Cameroon.
Youngpairoj AS, Alemnji GA, Eno LT, Lyonga EJ, Eloundou MA, Shanmugam V, Mpoudi EN, Folks TM, Kalish ML, Pieniazek D, Fonjungo PN
AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses (15 Nov): 2011
PubMed ID: 21923557