A new high-level containment lab, funded by Mining for Miracles went “hot” in July, 2011. The lab will be studying organisms that can cause lethal infections.

The Level 3 Containment Lab is a new addition to the Child and Family Research Institute located on the Children’s and Women’s Hospital campus. It’s dedicated research team, lead by Dr. Laura Sly, has been approved to study level III organisms including studying Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, and Burkholderia pseudomallei, which can cause lethal infections, particularly in the elderly and very young.

Thanks, in large part, to funding provided by Mining for Miracles, projects are underway that aim to define new treatments for tuberculosis and to understand why Burkholderia pseudomallei has such dramatic effects on children but does not affect adults in the same way.