Bioweapons, counter research topic for lab lecture Wed. in Hamilton

As Hamilton’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories plays a leading role in the nation’s
fight against bioterrorism, the agency’s research director will talk about
bioweapons and counter research at a public seminar Wednesday in Hamilton.

By JENNY JOHNSON Staff Reporter Ravalli Republic

As part of the lab’s ongoing public lecture series, Intramural Research Director
Dr. Thomas Kindt of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in
Bethesda, Md., will discuss the history of bioterrorism and the agency’s
biodefense program – which includes research done at the Hamilton campus.

Officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced
earlier this year that a new research lab will be built at the Hamilton campus to
help develop new diagnostics, vaccines and treatments for diseases caused by
the intentional release of pathogens into human populations.

As part of the National Institutes of Health, the agency is a primary player in the
research effort to counter emerging and re-emerging diseases such as
hantavirus, Ebola and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis worldwide. These
programs will be supported by Hamilton’s scientists and facilities, including a
planned lab of the highest possible safety standards – known as a biosafety level
4 lab.

"There are major threats of bioterrorism out there," Kindt said. "We must do the
research and development necessary to defend against any of the agents that
might be used."

The seminar titled "A proposed NIAID Biodefense Program," will begin with a
review the historical uses of bioweapons. The overview will range from the Middle
Ages when the corpses of plague victims were catapulted toward the enemy to
the attack by the Aum Shinrikyo group on the Tokyo subway system in 1995,
when nerve gas killed 12 and sickened 5,000 people, Kindt said. Then the
anthrax poisonings last fall made bioterrorism a threat that is "too real to ignore."

Kindt will also touch on the need for biocontainment facilities for research and the
federal funding increases for such research since the attacks of Sept. 11.

RML facilities already house organisms which require biosafety 2 and 3 labs and
are potential agents of bioterrorism. The planned biosafety 4 lab won’t be
completed for at least two years, according to RML officials.

In addition to his position as director of the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases Division of Intramural Research, Kindt heads the institute’s
molecular and cellular immunogenetics section, which investigates the effect of
infectious agents on the cells and organs of the immune system.

The seminar will begin at 12:10 p.m. Wednesday at the Hamilton Middle School
Auditorium.

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