The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) is the largest biomedical research facility administered by the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

(DoD). The institute is centered at the

Forest Glen Annex The Forest Glen Annex is a U.S. Army installation in the Forest Glen Park neighborhood of Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. It is situated between Brookville Road and Linden Lane. Since 1999, the Annex has been the site of the Walter Reed Army In ...

, in the Forest Glen Park part of the unincorporated Silver Spring urban area in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

just north of

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, but it is a subordinate unit of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), headquartered at nearby

Fort Detrick Fort Detrick () is a United States Army Futures Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland. Historically, Fort Detrick was the center of the U.S. biological weapons program from 1943 to 1969. Since the discontinuation of that program, it ...

, Maryland. At Forest Glen, the WRAIR has shared a laboratory and administrative facility — the Sen Daniel K. Inouye Building, also known as Building 503 — with the

Naval Medical Research Center The Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) is an agency that performs basic and applied biomedical research to meet the needs of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. Its areas of focus include study of infectious diseases, biodef ...

since 1999. The Institute takes its name from

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Walter Reed Walter Reed (September 13, 1851 – November 22, 1902) was a U.S. Army physician who in 1901 led the team that confirmed the theory of Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito species rather than b ...

, MD (1851–1902), the Army physician who, in 1901, led the team that confirmed the theory that

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

is transmitted by a particular

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

species, rather than by direct contact. Today, the WRAIR fosters and performs biomedical research for the DoD and the US Army. It has recently developed two modern "Centers of Excellence" in the fields of military psychiatry/neuroscience and infectious disease research. The Centers focus, respectively, on soldier fitness, brain injury, and sleep management and in the development of vaccines and drugs for prevention and treatment of such diseases as malaria, HIV/AIDS, dengue fever, wound infections, leishmaniasis, enteric diseases.

Official mandate

Basic and applied medical research supporting U.S. military operations is the focus of WRAIR leaders and scientists. Despite the focus on the military, however, the institute has historically also addressed and solved a variety of non-military medical problems prevalent in the United States and the wider world.

Divisions and Subordinate Units of the WRAIR

Divisions at the Daniel K. Inouye Building

The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research hosts two Centers of Excellence for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience and for Infectious Disease Research which are headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland. Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience * Behavioral Biology * Blast Induced Neurotrauma * Brain Trauma Neuroprotection and Neurorestoration * Military Psychiatry * Research Transition Office Center for Infectious Disease Research * Bacterial Diseases * Emerging Infectious Diseases * Entomology Program * United States Military HIV Research Program ** Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP) * Military Malaria Research Program * Preventive Medicine Program * Viral Diseases Office of Science Education and Strategic Communications: * Research Marketing * Gains in Education of Mathematics & Science (GEMS) :Students in 7th to 12th grade get an opportunity to participate in an internship for one to four weeks in an Army laboratory and learn technical skills. Advanced courses in subsequent years build upon prior experience. * Science & Engineering Apprentice Program (SEAP) :A cooperative education (work/study) program for high school students looking at a possible career in science and engineering. The program offers hands-on experience and mentoring in Army research and development activities in an actual Army laboratory. * Science & Engineering Apprentice Program-College Qualified Leaders (SEAP-CQL) :Paid internships for undergraduates seeking experience in Army research. The WRAIR supports and collaborates on all other Army Educational Research Programs including the Mobile Discovery Center, the Junior Solar Spring, eCybermission, Uninitiates Introduction to Engineering (UNITE), Research & Engineering Apprentice Program (REAP), International Science & Engineering Fair (INTEL-ISEF), Internships Science & Engineering Program (ISEP), Junior Science & Humanities Symposium (JSHS), Women in Science Project (WISP), Career Related Experience in Science & Technology (CREST), Consortium Research Fellows Program (CRFP), and Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation Defense Scholarshop for Service Program (SMART). Research Support: * Preventive Medicine and Pathology * Pilot Bioproduction Facility * Clinical Trials Center * Veterinary Medicine * Division of Human Subjects Protection * DMAVS, Library and Statistical Services * Information Management * Logistics * Office of Quality Activities * Operations and Security * Personnel * Resource Management * Safety

WRAIR Pilot Bioproduction Facility

The

Pilot Bioproduction Facility The Pilot Bioproduction Facility of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) is a Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO) facility whose mission is to perform vaccine production on a pilot scale. The facility produces pre-license Phas ...

(PBF) was established in 1958 as the Department of Biologics Research and is now located at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. The PBF mission is research, development, production, and testing of vaccines for human use. The PBF at the

is a multi-use facility designed and operated for production of vaccines in compliance with the current Good Manufacturing ( cGMP) regulations. Compliance with cGMP ensures that products prepared in the facility will be safe, potent, and reproducible. Since inception, the PBF has specialized in developing vaccines for Department of Defense mission-related disease threats. The PBF follows all federal regulations that apply to biological products and has expertise in the development and production of vaccines for the prevention of a variety of infectious diseases. Projects for public and private partners are accomplished through inter-agency and cooperative agreements. Vaccines are produced that will protect Soldiers against diseases that they might encounter in areas of deployment. These include vaccines to prevent dengue fever, malaria, meningitis, cholera, shigellosis, hepatitis A, and HIV. The PBF places compliance, cleanliness, and safety as top priorities in the production process of a vaccine. Once the vaccine is tested for safety, potency, and identity, the vaccine is released for use in approved human clinical studies. Several of the PBF's experimental vaccines have progressed on to advanced clinical testing.

Global Platforms

* United States Army Medical Research Directorate - West (USAMRD-W) * United States Army Medical Research Directorate-Africa (USAMRD-A) * United States Army Medical Research Unit-Brazil (USAMRU-B) (decommissioned in 1997) * United States Army Medical Directorate-Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (USAMD-AFRIMS) * United States Army Medical Research Directorate - Georgia * Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP)

History of the WRAIR

The WRAIR traces its institutional heritage back to the

Army Medical School Founded by U.S. Army Brigadier General George Miller Sternberg, MD in 1893, the Army Medical School (AMS) was by some reckonings the world's first school of public health and preventive medicine. (The other institution vying for this distinctio ...

, founded by U.S. Army Surgeon General George Sternberg in 1893, by some reckonings the first school of

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

and

preventive medicine Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...

in the world. (The other institution vying for this distinction is the

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. As the second independent, degree-granting institution for research in epi ...

, founded in 1916.) The organization name was officially changed to the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in 1953.

Notable staff

* Robert J. T. Joy, Commander, U.S. Army Research Team (WRAIR), Vietnam, 1964-1965, Commander, WRAIR 1975-1976, Founding Faculty,

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is a health science university of the U.S. federal government. The primary mission of the school is to prepare graduates for service to the U.S. at home and abroad in the medical corps as ...

Maurice Hilleman Maurice Ralph Hilleman (August 30, 1919 – April 11, 2005) was a leading American microbiologist who specialized in vaccinology and developed over 40 vaccines, an unparalleled record of productivity. According to one estimate, his vaccines ...

, famed vaccinologist, Chief of Dept of Respiratory Diseases (1948–57) *

David Rioch David McKenzie Rioch (July 6, 1900 – September 11, 1985) was a psychiatric research scientist and neuroanatomist, known as a pioneer in brain research and for leading the interdisciplinary neuropsychiatry division at the Walter Reed Army Institute ...

(1951–70), Neuropsychiatry Division *

Walle Nauta Walle Jetze Harinx Nauta (June 8, 1916 – March 24, 1994) was a leading Dutch-American neuroanatomist, and one of the founders of the field of neuroscience. Nauta is best known for his silver staining, which helped to revolutionize neuroscience. He ...

(1951–64), Neuropsychiatry Division *

Robert Galambos Robert Carl Galambos (April 20, 1914 – June 18, 2010) was an American neuroscientist whose pioneering research demonstrated how bats use echolocation for navigation purposes, as well as studies on how sound is processed in the brain. Biogra ...

, Neuropsychiatry Division *

David H. Hubel David Hunter Hubel (February 27, 1926 – September 22, 2013) was a Canadian American neurophysiologist noted for his studies of the structure and function of the visual cortex. He was co-recipient with Torsten Wiesel of the 1981 Nobel Pri ...

(''ca.'' 1954-58), Neuropsychiatry Division (later a Nobel Prize winner; invented the modern metal

microelectrode A microelectrode is an electrode used in electrophysiology either for recording neural signals or for the electrical stimulation of nervous tissue (they were first developed by Ida Hyde in 1921). Pulled glass pipettes with tip diameters of 0. ...

while at WRAIR) * Jerome Kim, Director General of the International Vaccine Institute * Edward Perl (''ca.'' 1953-54), Neuropsychiatry Division *

James S. Ketchum James Sanford Ketchum (November 1, 1931 – May 27, 2019) was a psychiatrist and U.S. Army Medical Corps officer who worked for almost a decade (1960–1969) on the U.S. military’s top secret psychochemical warfare program at the Edgewood Arsenal ...

(1958–60), Neuropsychiatry Division * Nelson Michael

Notes

External links

WRAIR Official WebsiteWRAIR Clinical Trials Center Website
''This article contains information that originally came from US Government publications and websites and is in the public domain.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Walter Reed Army Institute Of Research Forest Glen Annex United States Army medical research facilities Army Institute Of Research Military medical organizations of the United States Buildings and structures in Silver Spring, Maryland 1953 establishments in the United States Medical and health organizations based in Maryland