USAMRIID — U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

Our Budget department took some time to celebrate Taylar Dowling and her future #RIIDKid! It is rare to be able to hold a baby shower, so they jumped at the chance to support their teammate. Congrats Taylar! #USAMRIID | #Team | #RIIDFamily | U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command |

Our #RIIDrockstars are out traveling to conventions and keeping the #Biodefense community up-to-date on all of the amazing work happening at RIID. Bill Dorman and Capt. Elizabeth Babcock recently presented “Laboratory Identification of Biological Warfare Agents” to over 130 attendees at the annual Society for American Federal Medical Laboratory Scientists symposium. SGT Louis Henrick also presented a poster on “Establishment of Performance Specifications Validation Report for a Monkeypox Virus Clade I Real time PCR assay of the QuantStudio Dx Analyzer.” The conference had over 750 registered attendees. #USAMRIID | #SAFMLS | U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command | Defense Health Agency |

Registration is now open for the 2024 Military Health System Research Symposium! Join us August 26-29 at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, FL. Connect with military medical professionals, United States Department of Defense scientists, industry experts and more to discuss cutting-edge research. Register now: http://www.mhsrs.net/ #MHSRS2024 | #MilitaryResearch | #MilitaryMedicine

As we celebrate the 248th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we recall the valor and vision demonstrated by our founding fathers. However, freedom is never free. Our independence is possible because of the men and women of our Armed Forces, Civilian, and Contractor workforce who continue to proudly defend our freedom.    Thank you for what you do every day for USAMRIID, and our country. This holiday weekend is a well-deserved break from work to enjoy summertime activities and time with family and friends. I highly encourage you to celebrate the holiday, while always keeping safety as a priority. #independenceday | #fourthofjuly | #summersafety |

School’s out for summer, but the MRDC Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science program (GEMS) is just beginning! This week, Near-Peer Mentors are training to teach their students when the program officially gets underway. The GEMS program is a U.S. Army-sponsored, summer STEM enrichment program for students in elementary through high school that takes place in participating U.S. Army research laboratories and engineering centers. Each class is fully taught by Near-Peer Mentors, who are usually juniors and seniors in high school or undergraduates in college who are monitored by participating teachers. The GEMS program not only provides grade-appropriate STEM activities for the students, but it also gives the Near-Peer Mentors the opportunity to learn new skills. For example, on Wednesday, the Near-Peer Mentors learned how to tie sutures from Army LTC Ahmad Yassin, a skill they will need to teach the younger students in the GEMS program later. The teachers we talked to were wowed by the Near-Peer Mentors’ desire to learn. “I’m very impressed by their level of maturity and drive to learn new things,” Sophia Dorner, a teacher, said. “GEMS gives these Near-Peer Mentors the opportunity to learn from someone who’s walked the walk, and lets them teach what they learn, which will give them many valuable skills in the long run.” Another teacher, Schauntell Green, said she wants the Near-Peers to come away from the experience with soft skills that will set them up for success in their future careers. “My focus as a teacher is helping them learn how to communicate and how to present in a way that’s interesting and dynamic,” Green said. “Whether they want to be an engineer or an English teacher, I think their takeaway is going to be more about organization and being open to learning from other peers.” The Near-Peers themselves said they can’t wait for the program to start. “I’m excited to see the kids’ faces when they accomplish their experiments,” Lulu Sanchez, a student at Frederick Community College said. Matthew Lopez-Duke, a student at George Washington University, is back as a Near-Peer Mentor after attending the GEMS program in middle school. He wants to foster the same connection he had with his Near-Peer Mentor with the student’s he’ll be teaching this summer. “I remember my Near-Peer Mentor was really nice and helpful, and I looked up to her,” Lopez-Duke said. “I’m excited to give that experience to someone else.” We’ll provide more updates on the GEMS Program throughout the summer, so keep an eye out and don’t forget to share and follow our page! #GEMS #STEM #AEOP #ScienceForTheWarfighter

Had a great time at the Field Identification of Biological Warfare Agents #FIBWA provided by USAMRIID — U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. This short course provided a great overview for managers and medical personnel on the methods used to detect biological agents while in a field laboratory environment. The information was a great refresher for the select agent bacteria. Highly recommended for DoD Medical Laboratory Technicians and Medical Laboratory Officers. Glad that the 75th U.S. Army Reserve Innovation Command was able to send me to this course. #armymedicine #fieldlaboratory #bioweapon #medicallab #labmedicine #75thIC

Dr. Keersten Ricks and SGT Victoria Olguin from our Diagnostic Systems Division traveled to Kisumu, Kenya to conduct a Magpix capacity building training. With support from CPT Timothy Egbo of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 11 total trainees from 4 WRAIR-Africa labs and 2 CDC-Kenya labs gathered at the Basic Science Lab (Dr. John Waitumbi) in Kisumu to learn the basics of serosurveillance, how to operate the Magpix instrument, and how to perform the AFRICOM panel developed by Dr. Keersten Ricks in DSD. Given USAMRIID is a reachback lab for the Global Emerging Infectious Disease Surveillance Network (GEIS-N) under the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division (AFHSD), we are on stand-by to provide training and reagents to GEIS-N labs for febrile and vectorborne pathogen serosurveillance. For many of the trainess, this was a brand new introduction to USAMRIID’s methodologies. Over the course of the week, we screened 200 human samples collected in surveillance studies all over Kenya to reinforce understanding of the methods. Such studies feed vital surveillance data into the combatant commands to assist in force health protection decisions. Frequent and prospective biosurveillance is foundational to avoiding outbreak scenarios. #Biodefense | #USAMRIID | #Africa | #Partnership | Defense Health Agency |

The #USAMRIID O-Day Rally continues with a Volleyball tournament! Our #RIIDrockstars were out there early this morning to see who is the best at… just about everything. MSG Phillips and his squad took home first AND second place! Go team! #orgday | #volleyball | #sports | Defense Health Agency | US Army |

Our Veterinary Pathology team represented #USAMRIID at the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) and eCYBERMISSION #STEM Pathways Fair! We enjoy inspiring young minds to science and technology and we look forward to next year! #Biodefense | #SoldierScientist | Defense Health Agency |

HAPPENING NOW! Watch LIVE coverage of a wreath laying ceremony in honor of the Army's 249th birthday from Arlington National Cemetery. #ArmyBday