MRICD hosts visit from Congressman Bishop of Georgia.

The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense welcomed U.S. Congressman Sanford D. Bishop Jr. of Georgia Sept. 13 for a briefing on the institute’s Quality Improvement Program.

The visit was the result of sponsorship by Bishop of funding to support execution of a quality systems program for FDA-regulated activities at the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Md. Amethyst Technologies, LLC, located in Baltimore, Md., is providing support to MRMC in execution of the program at three of the command’s subordinate laboratories: MRICD, the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

After an overview presentation on MRICD, provided by Dr. John Graham, the deputy to the commander for research, Mr. Sherwin Sapasap, chief of the institute’s Office of Regulated Studies, briefed the congressman on how his support has impacted the quality program at MRICD.

Among the accomplishments realized to date was the creation of a Quality Management Plan, a Validation Master Plan, and a Quality Training Program, as well as the initiation of an in-house Pipette Calibration Program, which has decreased turn-around time and increased savings. Additionally, the MRICD has standardized the process for preparation and approval of standard operating procedures, and provided unique expertise in document control and archiving.

Dr. Kimberly Brown, president of Amethyst Technologies, then briefed Bishop on her company and its collaboration with MRMC. Specifically, the company is assisting MRICD in the development and implementation of a quality system that will allow the institute to conduct preclinical studies under Good Laboratory Practices. According to Brown’s briefing such support includes designing the training program, developing the ability to conduct in-house equipment verification to ensure the integrity of the data acquired during research, maintaining the viability of critical samples, creating an archive system to guarantee accessibility of data and to prevent data loss, and planning for the transition of the research laboratories to the MRICD replacement facility that is currently under construction.

Bishop said he found the presentations “very enlightening.”

“In this time of fiscal restraint,” continued Bishop, “to see how cost effective this operation is and how it’s providing this kind of result is very fulfilling. It’s a credit to the Department of Defense and this command.”

Bishop was accompanied by Army Lt. Col. Gregory Browder, a military fellow in the congressman’s office, and Army Lt. Col. Mark Beckler. Since the congressman is also a member of congressional subcommittee for military construction, on his return to Weide Air Field for the trip back to Washington, Bishop was given a very brief drive-by tour of the MRICD replacement facility being constructed adjacent to the institute’s current facilities.

MRICD is the nation’s center of excellence for medical chemical defense research. Visit https://usamricd.apgea. army.mil/ and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/USAMRICD.