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120 YEARS OF ADVANCES FOR MILITARY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
ABOVE: Microbiology lab at the KEMRI/WRAIR trial site in KisumuKombewa, Kenya. Early development and clinical testing of the malaria vaccine RTS,S was part of an ongoing collaboration between GlaxoSmithKline and WRAIR. Malaria very rapidly becomes resistant to new drugs, driving researchers’ efforts to develop new drugs and vaccines. WRAIR has been successful in developing and field testing antimalarial drugs such as halofantrine, mefloquine, and tafenoquine, which provide treatment alternatives for drug-resistant strains. JohnMichael Maas, Darby Communications OPPOSITE: This scanning electron micrograph depicts a couple of clusters of aerobic Gramnegative, non-motile Acinetobacter baumannii bacteria as seen under a magnification of 12,739x. A. baumannii is the etiological agent of nosocomial infections resulting in septicemia, meningitis, endocarditis, pneumonia, and wound and urinary tract infections. MRSN is currently targeting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. CDC photo by Janice Carr
same way against Aedes aegypti or Anopheles gambiae, which is why we have the overseas labs for field testing with not only the right vector but natural populations. “Many people can test them in the lab with insectary-reared pests, but a lot of times they have been reared for so many years, they’re not wild type anymore and actually react very differently. So it always has to go from preliminary laboratory testing to the field. And we’re adding a step in there to better control the conditions.” The Entomology Branch also supports other departments for drug development and the malaria vaccine challenge model, as well as regular basic vector and parasite biology studies to help with any of those. “That’s probably one of the most important things we do here. Then we have all these other efforts, like octopus arms going in all different directions, depending on what the effort is, but all related to entomology,” Szumlas said.
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES “There are 17 different species of sand flies. Most sand flies don’t even occur in the U.S., but everywhere else in the world, they transmit leishmaniasis and other nasty things,” he said, adding lab research results must be verified in the field. “If you don’t have the important vectors out there, you get good [lab] information, but it might not work the
The Centers of Excellence for Infectious Disease Research (CIDR) and for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience (CMPN) have a mission focus for the development of products and knowledge that benefit the warfighter. From its mission research, WRAIR and military medical research focus on near-term product development, exemplified