CIDRlogolargerThe largest independent nonprofit in the U.S. focused solely on infectious disease research is changing its name to better align with what it does: Seattle BioMed is becoming the Center for Infectious Disease Research.

The South Lake Union-based organization is also leveraging the re-branding opportunity to launch a petition campaign on Change.org urging Congress to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health.

“The NIH has seen its funding capacity drastically diminished in recent years and can now only fund one in six research requests,” said Alan Aderem, PhD, president and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research. “The stakes couldn’t be higher – there are millions of lives depending on new scientific breakthroughs, which require increased funding capacity.”

The former Seattle BioMed says the new brand more accurately reflects its mission and purpose, with more than 250 scientists and staff working on projects for prevention and treatment of infectious diseases globally, including vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and more.

Last year, for example, the organization received a $9.8 million, seven-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to fund the initial work on a vaccine that could neutralize antibodies against HIV-1.

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