Laboratory Information:
U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense
3100 Ricketts Point Road
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010-5400
Phone: (410) 436-2216
Email: MRICD-ORTA@amedd.army.mil
Website: http://usamricd.apgea.army.mil/
Technology Transfer Website: http://usamricd.apgea.army.mil/apps/crp/
Agency/Department: Dept. of Defense - Army
Region: Mid-Atlantic
FLC Laboratory Representative:
Ms. Suaquita Perry
Phone: (410) 436-1339
Fax: (410) 436-2216
Email: suaquita.perry@us.army.mil
Background/History of the Laboratory:
The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute
of Chemical Defense traces its origins to 1915 when the War
Department gave responsibility for designing protective equipment against chemical agents to the Medical
Department. This requirement stemmed from the launching of modern chemical warfare when the German
army released a cloud of chlorine gas against the British at Ypres, France. In 1922, the Medical
Research
Division was organized and charged with studying the pharmacological action of chemical warfare agents,
and
developing the best possible methods of treating gas casualties. In 1940, just prior to the U.S.'s entry
into
World War II, increased emphasis was placed on development of methods for prophylaxis and treatment
of
chemical warfare casualties. When the war ended the U.S. learned that Germany had stockpiled certain
organic phosphate compounds that were far more deadly than the chemical agents in the Allied arsenal,
and
the advancing Russian army had seized the German stocks of one of these agents (tabun), and recreated
the
German factory in Russia. This resulted in increased attention to the area of medical defense
against
chemical agents, and the post-war years were characterized by continued progress in the area of medical
defense against chemical agents. On 1 July 1979, the U.S. Army Biomedical Laboratory became a
part of the
Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC).
On 11 May 1981, the US Army Biomedical Laboratory was redesignated the U.S. Army Medical Research
Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD).
Mission of the Laboratory:
To discover and develop medical countermeasures to chemical
warfare agents and to train and educate
personnel in the medical management of chemical casualties. USAMRICD has the following goals:
Technology Transfer Mechanisms:
- Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs)
- Memorandum of Agreement or Understanding
- Patents and Licensing
- CRADAs for Material Transfer
- Peer-reviewed Publications
Technology Areas of Expertise:
- Biomedical samples
- Chemical casualty care training
- Anticonvulsants
- Behavior assessment
- Bioscavengers
- Drug screening
- Experimental models of lung injury
- Inhalation exposures
- Medical diagnostics
- Neuroprotectants
- Oximes
- Skin protectants
- Wound healing
