
Address
MCMR-UBZ
568 Doughten Drive
Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5010
United StatesDescription
The U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research is
located at Fort Detrick, Md., USA. Once a biological warfare
testing laboratory, our completely renovated building includes
state-of-the-art aquaculture facilities and laboratories
specifically designed for aquatic toxicology and molecular biology.
Our staff is an interdisciplinary team of scientists and
technicians who are dedicated to improving risk assessment methods
and to developing biomonitoring technologies for military
environmental health hazards. We consult and collaborate with other
U.S. Military and government organizations, as well as partner with
industry and academia, to enhance our research base and share
resources. The USACEHR is an outgrowth of a robust and
comprehensive toxicology program that existed as part of the US
Army Biomedical Research and Development Laboratory (USABRDL) under
the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
(USAMRMC). Although USABRDL was closed under the 1991 Base
Re-alignment and Closure Act, a small contingent remained onsite to
support research on the use of sentinel species and bioassays for
detecting environmental pollutants. Supported by the United States
Army Corps of Engineers as part of installation remediation, this
effort established key elements and innovative concepts for medical
and environmental surveillance. This effort was renamed the United
States Army Center for Environmental Health Research (USACEHR) and
was organizationally placed under the United States Army Research
Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM). Currently, the
USACEHR is under the United States Army Medical Research Institute
of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD). This organizational relationship is
beneficial to both organizations, because the missions are closely
related.
In response to changing requirements and the availability of new biotechnologies, the USACEHR is now focusing upon two research areas: Environmental Sentinel Biomonitoring Systems and Biomarker Discovery and Toxicogenomics.
Mission
The mission of the USACEHR is to plan,
direct, and conduct research, development, testing and validation
for occupational and environmental health surveillance (OEHS) and
environmental health technology in support of Force Health
Protection.