CHICAGO – Staff with the Naval Medical Research & Development (NMR&D) enterprise wrapped up attendance at the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Meeting on October 22.

The enterprise was represented by several of its overseas commands at the annual meeting, including Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) EURAFCENT, NAMRU INDO PACIFIC and NAMRU SOUTH.

Throughout the five-day meeting, military and civilian staff with the enterprise presented on surveillance and research work to fellow stakeholders in tropical disease medicine during breakout and poster sessions.

“I’m so impressed with our scientists throughout the enterprise,” said Capt. Franca Jones, commander, Naval Medical Research Command, and leader of the enterprise. “They are presenting on important infectious disease surveillance and research done around the globe, to ensure that our warfighters can fight without the threat of infectious diseases.”



Work presented by enterprise staff at the annual meeting include research into vaccine development, disease detection and surveillance of diseases like rabies and malaria. The information shared allows the enterprise and fellow medical research stakeholders to better develop health solutions worldwide.

“We bring our very latest research in the areas of bacteriology, entomology, parasitology and virology to the wider scientific community,” explained Cmdr. Kimberly Edgel, NAMRU SOUTH’S research science director. “While our primary mission is on behalf of our service members, the work the enterprise presents is relevant to research that benefits the global population.”

“The annual meeting provides opportunities to make more people aware of who we are and what we do,” added Dr. Henju Marjuki, NAMRU SOUTH’s chief science officer. “It’s a platform to find collaborators, and draw from the best academia and industry research to better serve our deployed forces.”

The ASTMH, founded in 1903, is an international scientific organization focused on reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health. The ASTMH Annual Meeting brings tropical medicine and global health professionals together to a forum for the exchange of scientific advances in tropical medicine and hygiene.



The enterprise’s three OCONUS NAMRUs, each of which conducts tropical disease research and surveillance in a specific Area of Responsibility (AOR), were re-named earlier this year to better represent those areas, and be more indicative of the respective partner nations that each command supports. NAMRU EURAFCENT [Europe, Africa and Central], formerly known as NAMRU-3, is headquartered out of Sigonella, Italy; NAMRU INDO PACIFIC formerly known as NAMRU-2, is headquartered out of Singapore; NAMRU SOUTH, formerly known as NAMRU-6, is headquartered out of Lima, Peru.

The NMR&D enterprise, led by NMRC, is engaged in a broad spectrum of activity from basic science in the laboratory to field studies in austere and remote areas of the world to investigations in operational environments. In support of the Navy, Marine Corps, and joint U.S. warfighters, enterprise researchers study infectious diseases, biological warfare detection and defense, combat casualty care, environmental health concerns, aerospace and undersea medicine, medical modeling, simulation, operational mission support, epidemiology and behavioral sciences.