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Thomas Kindt, M.D., Director, Division of Intramural Research
Dr. Kindt reported on the status of the Division of Intramural Research (DIR), which encompasses facilities on the NIH Bethesda campus and in Rockville, Maryland, as well as the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana. Among its 1300 employees, DIR now has 84 staff scientists/clinicians, who play a key role in large clinical programs, and a growing number of predoctoral students, reflecting DIR's enhanced training role.
DIR's new Clinical Infectious Diseases Laboratory will strengthen its biodefense research. To support DIR's biodefense work, new biocontainment facilities are under construction in Rockville, on the NIH campus, at Ft. Detrick, Maryland, and at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories. Dr. Kindt expects the first of these facilities, Twinbrook III, to be ready for occupancy in January 2004. During the past year, Dr. Kindt has devoted substantial time to community outreach, briefing community groups and government officials on the purpose of the new biodefense facilities and addressing safety concerns.
Dr. Kindt reported that DIR's International Research Program has increased its activities. The program's research agenda includes a malaria vaccine trial and HIV/AIDS research effort in Mali, a filariasis program in Chennai, and HIV/AIDS research collaborations in India and South Africa.
Dr. Kindt also highlighted the DIR's top research successes during the past year, including development of a recombinant vaccine against Hepatitis E and the association of immune cell defects with HIV disease.
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