The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD) hosted its 18th Biennial Medical Defense Bioscience Review last month in Hunt Valley, Md. The conference highlights research to improve medical countermeasures against the effects of biological neurotoxins, chemical warfare agents, and toxic industrial chemicals.
“Bioscience Review is significant in that it represents the only opportunity for the entire medical chemical defense community to gather for focused scientific exchanges,” said Dr. John Graham, who chaired the conference and serves as MRICD’s Deputy to the Commander for Research.
Highlights of the meeting included a comprehensive review of bioscavenger development programs in support of the USAMRICD mission by Dr. David Lenz, covering development of butyrylcholinesterase as the leading stoichiometric bioscavenger as well as ongoing research on catalytic bioscavengers.
Representatives from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) highlighted the agency’s Medical Countermeasures Initiative and hosted discussion roundtables on the topics of in vitro, ex vivo, in vivo, and in silico models during the development of medical countermeasures against drugs and biologics.
Maj. Shai Shrot, Israel Defense Forces, received an award for International Principal Investigator, for his poster “Early In Vivo MR Spectroscopy Findings in Organophosphate-Induced Brain Damage–Potential Biomarkers for Short-Term Survival.”
Other awardees at the event included USAMRICD’s Cristin Rothwell for “Analysis of Micro RNA Expression in Human Keratinocytes Following Exposure to Sulfur Mustard,” and Dr. Stanton McHardy, Southwest Research Institute, for “Development of Novel, ‘Non-Pyridinium’ AChE Reactivators or Peripheral and Central Protection against CWA Poisoning.”
Read more on the Bioscience Review at Army.mil.
