The HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology is a non-profit research institute dedicated to basic and applied research in genomics and genetics. The Institute, which opened in March 2008, is housed in a four-story, 270,000 square foot building that has the capacity to house up to 800 scientists and staff. Located in Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Alabama, the facility houses well-equipped state-of the-art laboratories, numerous small- and medium-sized conference rooms, as well as a library, auditorium and cafeteria.

Research and Teaching Missions

HudsonAlpha Institute's research and teaching missions are focused on genomics and genetics, and intends to have 14-16 Faculty Investigators who will work cooperatively on multiple problems in human biology and other life sciences concerns. The Hudson Alpha Institute has already recruited seven of these Investigators, including Richard Myers, Devin Absher, Shawn Levy, Greg Barsh, Jeremy Schmutz and Jane Grimwood (heads of the Genome Sequencing Center) and Jian Han (an expert in microbial genetics and genomics). Greg Cooper and Sara Cooper (both from the University of Washington) have recently joined the faculty. Additional recruitments are in progress, and will include senior- and junior-level Faculty Investigators with computational/statistical biology research programs, as well as additional genomics laboratory Investigators. Currently, the Myers and Absher groups have collaborations with scientists all over the U.S., in Singapore and in Europe. These include close collaborations with numerous groups at UAB, as well as with the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa campus), and Auburn University.

Most HudsonAlpha Faculty Investigators have Adjunct Faculty positions at one or more of these campuses. This allows the faculty to train Ph.D. students in their laboratories and have access to facilities in the universities, while also greatly facilitating collaborations.

Innovation Depot, a business incubation facility and program that focuses on the development of emerging biotechnology/life science, information technology and service businesses, and operates in partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

A public-private economic development effort, Innovation Depot is funded by the Birmingham regional business community, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham and other leading private foundations, UAB, the City of Birmingham and Jefferson County.

Southern Research (SR), a contiguous UAB-affiliate, encourages UAB students to perform lab rotations in its life sciences research facilities. Students will acquire first-hand knowledge about drug discovery and the process used to identify new therapeutic agents. This includes basic research on target selection and validation, screening, lead optimization and preclinical development.

As a Birmingham-based, independent, not-for-profit (501c3) organization for scientific research, Southern Research conducts basic and contract research not only in drug discovery and development, but also in the fields of materials and mechanical engineering, and environmental and energy-related research.

The Drug Discovery Division at Southern Research is comprised of approximately 100 scientists from all over the world with expertise in medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, biochemistry and high-throughput screening. They work closely with other universities and research institutions as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. In addition to its internal discovery programs in oncology, virology, bacteriology and neurobiology, the life sciences group at Southern Research conducts novel, ground-breaking research for various government agencies. As an indicator of the success of the organization, Southern Research has contributed to the discovery and development of seven, marketed anti-cancer drugs including clofarabine (Clolar/Evoltra), which is used for the treatment of refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children.

Southern Research scientists are very active in the academic community as many hold joint UAB appointments, serve on UAB committees and training grants, collaborate with UAB researchers and mentor UAB students pursuing advanced degrees in the life science arena.