Director’s Message:

The Howard T. Ricketts Laboratory (HTRL) is a state of the art BSL-3 facility constructed to support research on bacterial and viral pathogens. The University of Chicago built the Laboratory with financial support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The HTRL was commissioned in 2009 and began research operations in early 2010. It is registered with the US Select Agent Program and its mission is to carry out cutting-edge translational research on biodefense-related agents as well as the causative agents of emerging infectious diseases. Research conducted here is aimed at developing new vaccines and therapeutics for a variety of diseases including: anthrax, plague, MRSA, and SARS-CoV-2. The HTRL is also a training site for training in biosafety and BSL-3 operations.

All of the research staff at the HTRL are committed to working at the highest levels of safety and ethical behavior. We are proud to present the information on these pages as a resource for learning about our facility, its capabilities and research programs, as well as links to other sites for additional information about biodefense, biosafety, and microbial pathogenesis.