Affiliate membership connects San Antonio’s growing defense health ecosystem with a coordinated national effort to strengthen trauma research
SAN ANTONIO (August 24, 2026) —VelocityTX, the Eastside innovation hub and economic development agency, announced today that it has joined the Coalition for National Trauma Research (CNTR) as an Affiliate member, expanding the organization’s efforts to connect San Antonio’s military medical and health innovation ecosystem with national research, collaboration, and advocacy initiatives.
The affiliation, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding, supports CNTR’s mission to strengthen trauma research in the United States by coordinating efforts across the continuum of injury care, building infrastructure for multicenter research, and advocating for sustainable federal research funding.
For VelocityTX, the partnership builds on a growing focus on trauma, prehospital, disaster care, and other areas where San Antonio has deep military and civilian medical expertise.
“San Antonio has an extraordinary concentration of expertise in trauma and combat casualty care, but turning that expertise into better solutions requires strong connections across institutions, disciplines, and sectors,” said Jeremy Nelson, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer at VelocityTX. “Joining CNTR gives us another avenue to connect our researchers, companies, and partners to a national network working toward the same goal: accelerating research that can save lives and improve outcomes for patients.”
As an Affiliate member, VelocityTX will have opportunities to participate in relevant CNTR research initiatives and federal advocacy efforts, attend Stakeholder Advisory Council meetings, and connect its network with CNTR webinars, conferences, and other programming.
“We’re thrilled to welcome VelocityTX to our coalition,” said Michelle Price, PhD, CNTR’s Executive Director. “We are also becoming a network affiliate [at VelocityTX], and we look forward to expanding our research network in our hometown of San Antonio.”
The affiliation complements VelocityTX’s broader work to strengthen San Antonio’s role in advancing healthcare innovation. The organization works with military research organizations, universities, providers, and private-sector companies to help promising technologies move from research and development toward testing, commercialization, and real-world use.
By connecting those efforts with CNTR’s national trauma research network, VelocityTX aims to create additional pathways for collaboration while increasing the visibility and impact of trauma research taking place in San Antonio.
About VelocityTX
Formerly known as the Texas Research & Technology Foundation, VelocityTX is a nonprofit organization established in 1984 to promote sustainable economic and community growth. In carrying out this mission, the organization seeks to advance San Antonio’s life sciences industry through the development of a state-of-the-art bioscience innovation campus on the city’s near east side. Based out of the former Merchants Ice & Cold Storage complex, the master planned development will bring together established bioscience companies, healthcare startups, and military medical research organizations in an inclusive community where ideas collide to spur medical breakthroughs. VelocityTX also promotes workforce development through its Step Into STEM program, and provides entrepreneurial support services designed to accelerate the commercialization of emerging medical technologies.
About the Coalition for National Trauma Research
The Coalition for National Trauma Research is a nonprofit research coordinating center dedicated to advancing research that saves lives and reduces disability. A growing collaboration of 32 member organizations, CNTR works across the trauma community to coordinate research efforts, strengthen the infrastructure for multicenter investigation, and advocate for sustainable research funding commensurate with the burden of traumatic injury. Learn more at nattrauma.org.