National Church Arson Task Force
editPresident Clinton formed the National Church Arson Task Force (NCATF) in the June of 1996. The President charged the NCATF with a three objectives: 1) identify and prosecute the arsonists; 2) help communities rebuild the burned churches; and 3) offer local law enforcement assistance in preventing more fires.
Formation
editThe task force was created in reaction to public fears of arson against black churches. President Bill Clinton spoke of the purpose of the NCATF in a speech he delivered at a ceremony marking the June 12, 1996 re-opening of Mount Zion AME Church after its destruction by arson.
I have vivid and painful memories of black churches being burned in my own State when I was a child. In 1963 all Americans were outraged by the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that took the lives of four precious young children. We must never allow that to happen again.
— President Bill Clinton
The NCATF established a headquarters in Washington, D.C. and was staffed by special agents of the ATF and the FBI, as well as prosecutors from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney's Offices. President Clinton's directive also urged the formation of state-level task forces to address crime at the local level.[1]
Function
Results
editBetween 1996 and 2000, the NCATF had opened investigations into 945 arsons, bombings or attempted bombings at places of worship. One third of these occurred at black churches. Fourteen percent of the people arrested for these arsons were between ages 6 and 13 years old, while 25% were between 14 and 17.[2]
According to the NCATF final report published in 2000, 75% of those arrested in federal investigations were white males. The report recognized that crimes were motivated by multiple factors, including racism, vandalism, mental health issues, and retaliation against religious authorities.[2]
The report also notes 37 percent of the people arrested for incidents at historically black places of worship were themselves African American.
In total, 305 defendants were convicted in 224 cases. Fifty-eight percent of the defendants convicted of federal charges relating to arson or bombing were found to have been "motivated by bias."
- ^ National Church Arson Task Force: First Year Report for the President, United States Department of Treasury; United States Department of Justice; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; Federal Bureau of Investigation, June 6, 1997, retrieved 07 Dec 2018
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|access-date=(help) - ^ a b Rivero, Daniel; Rivas, Jorge (01 Jul 2015). "What happened last time there was a spike in church fires". Splinter. Gizmodo Media Group. Retrieved 07 Dec 2018.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|access-date=and|date=(help)
BioBridge Global
editBioBridge Global is a San Antonio-based nonprofit holding company that operates the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, QualTex Laboratories, GenCure, and The Blood and Tissue Center Foundation.[1] BioBridge Global supplies products and services in blood resource management, cellular therapy, donated umbilical cord blood and human tissue, and testing of blood, plasma and tissue.
Since 2016, Martin Landon has led the company as CEO.[2]
Organization
editThe South Texas Blood & Tissue Center supplies blood products and blood research management for hospitals, dialysis centers, and emergency clinics in the South Texas area.
QualTex Laboratories facilitate testing of blood, plasma, and other human cells and tissues. QualTex Laboratories are located in San Antonio, TX and Norcross, GA.
GenCure focuses on the development of cell-based therapies, providing biomanufacturing capabilities for clinical research and use. GenCure operates the Texas Cord Blood Bank, which collects and processes umbilical cord for banking, stem cell therapy, and research.
History
editThe company was originally founded in 1973 by three San Antonio physicians, Charles Robinson, MD, Robert F. Gossett, MD, and Michael H. Sulak MD, in conjunction with the Bexar County Medical Society charter, as the South Texas Regional Blood Bank.[3][4] The company opened for business in 1974.
The name of the company was changed to South Texas Blood & Tissue Center in 1994.[4]
QualTex Laboratories was established in 2007 as a separate nonprofit dedicated exclusively to testing. Linda Myers, who joined South Texas Blood & Tissue Center in 1994, led QualTex until becoming Interim President and CEO of BioBridge Global in 2012.[5]
GenCure was established in 2011 to expand the company services in to regenerative medicine.[6]
In 2012, the Board of the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center created a holding company, later named as BioBridge Global, to oversee its operating units.[7] BioBridge Global was announced as the name of the holding company in 2013.[8] Linda Myers, previously President and Chief Operating Officer of QualTex, served as Interim President and CEO since January 2013 until she was confirmed by the Board in March.[5]
BioBridge Global joined the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce in 2013.[1]
In 2014, BioBridge Global constructed lab space inside its San Antonio headquarters building for research and development involving various types of adult stem cells. Collaboration with San Antonio biotech firm StemBioSys expanded the use of that facility into umbilical cord blood stem cell products.[9]
During the Western African Ebola virus epidemic spanning 2013–2016, BioBridge Global collaborated with XBioTech Inc. to collect and evaluate blood samples from Ebola survivor Amber Vinson, a Dallas nurse who attended Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States.[10] Vinson's blood was collected at the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center in Austin, then brought to San Antonio for routine testing at QualTex Laboratories.
In 2016, BioBridge Global led a four-organization biotech team to win a $7.8 million contract from the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC), a biomedical technology association that collaborates with multiple government agencies under an agreement with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC).[11] The other members organizations of the team were the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) Coagulation and Blood Research, StemBioSys, and Maryland-based RoosterBio Inc. The funding supported the development of large-scale manufacturing capabilities for clinical-grade stem cells to be used for regenerative medicine research and therapeutic purposes.[12]
BioBridge Global won the 2016 Award for Excellence from the Balanced Scorecard Institute for working to identify and fill strategic capability gaps in the organization as part of its strategic plan.[13]
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, BioBridge Global's QualTex Laboratories partnered with XBiotech Inc. to develop a clinical test for the presence of antibodies against SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.[14] Blood donated to the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center would be tested for these antibodies to identify candidate donors for convalescent plasma therapy.[15]
BioBridge Global did not receive a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, which was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic by the federal CARES Act to largely help employers retain workers during the economic crisis.[2]
- ^ a b "BIOBRIDGE GLOBAL". SA Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Garcia, Laura (2020-07-17). "BioBridge Global lays off about 100 workers". ExpressNews.com. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ "BioBridge Global highlights transformative year in 2014 Annual Report". PRWeb. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ a b "History | South Texas Blood & Tissue Center". South Texas Blood. 2013-09-17. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Wellinghoff, Jasmina (2015-11-17). "Cover Story: San Antonio Linda Myers, CEO of BioBridge Global". San Antonio Woman Magazine. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "BioBridge Global Announced as Holding Company Name for South Texas Blood & Tissue Center and Affiliates". www.businesswire.com. 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ "Linda Myers Named President/CEO of Holding Company". BioBridge Global. 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "BioBridge Global Announced as Holding Company Name for South Texas Blood & Tissue Center and Affiliates". www.businesswire.com. 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ "BioBridge Global, StemBioSys Announce Expanded Collaboration to Provide Human Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells for Research". www.newswire.com. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ O’Hare, Peggy (2015-01-22). "BioBridge Global helps XBiotech in Ebola cure research". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ Gonzalez, Iris (2016-10-03). "BioBridge Global-led Collaboration Wins $7.8 Million U.S. Army Contract". San Antonio Report. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ "Regenerative Medicine". MTEC. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ "BioBridge Global Earns Award for Excellence from Balanced Scorecard Institute". PRWeb. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ "XBiotech and BioBridge Global Collaborate on FDA Program to Develop Potential COVID-19 Treatment Based on Natural Antibodies from Recovered Patients". GlobeNewswire News Room. 2020-04-03. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Garza, Roseanna (2020-04-06). "Blood Bank Seeks Plasma From Recovered Coronavirus Patients for Potential Treatment". San Antonio Report. Retrieved 2020-09-10.