Tampa Bay Research Institute Research

For more more than 20 years, our co-founders, Drs. Akiko Tanaka and Meihan Nonoyama, conducted pioneering research that uncovered the links between virus infections and certain cancers. Thus, from its inception in 1981, the focus of the Institute’s research has been on exploring the connection between infectious agents and the induction of cancer, as well as to more fully understand the molecular biology of viruses such as herpes, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.  

 Since 1981, TBRI has trained a number of doctoral and post-doctoral scientists and has collaborated with several universities and institutes to further advance our research projects. Over the years the Institute has played a leading role in developing its fields of research and has hosted numerous international conferences that have addressed various aspects of infectious diseases, cancer and biotechnology.

 In 1989, TBRI became the first research institute in the state of Florida to receive a grant to study HIV/AIDS. Subsequently, TBRI received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the “New Drug Development for HIV/AIDS” program. This inaugural work led to a comprehensive study of a plant extract derived from the pinecone, PPC (a polyphenylpropenoid-polysaccharide complex).