About NMRC

Naval Medical Research Command, formerly known as Naval Medical Research Center, focuses on solutions to operational medical problems such as battlefield neurotrauma and wound infections, decompression sickness, naturally occurring infectious diseases, and biological threat agents.

The NMRC laboratory is co-located in the Daniel K. Inouye Building with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research at the U.S. Army Forest Glen Annex, Silver Spring, Maryland. NMRC also operates a Biological Defense Research Directorate at the U.S. Army Ft. Detrick Garrison in Frederick, Maryland.

The NMRC Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate (OUMD) conducts medical research, development, testing, and evaluation to develop new information and technologies to enhance the health, safety, performance, and deployment medical readiness of Navy and Marine Corps personnel. OUMD researchers continue to persevere to find opportunities to build new programmatic capability and partnerships, and advance research focusing on improving conditions for the warfighter. The Directorate has three departments: Undersea Medicine, NeuroTrauma, and Regenerative Medicine.

The Directorate for DoW Infectious Diseases Research Directorate (DDID) conducts research on infectious diseases that are considered to be significant threats to our deployed Sailors, Marines, Soldiers, and Airmen. Significant threats are those that have the potential to incapacitate a large number of deployed forces over a short time period, thus hindering the ability of warfighters to accomplish their mission. The geographical distribution of a disease; the lack of an effective vaccine, treatment, or other control measures; the mode of transmission; and the historical impact during past wars are all factors that determine the importance of an infectious disease to the U.S. Military. As reflected by the departmental organization within DDID, the main infectious disease targets on which research efforts are currently focused on are diseases affecting operational readiness such as malaria, bacterial causes of traveler's diarrhea, dengue fever and combat-related wound infection. In general, the overarching research goal in DDID is to minimize the impact of these infectious diseases by preventing infection or clinical disease. In most cases, the best approach to achieve this goal is through the development of efficacious vaccines, prophylaxis and therapeutics.

The NMRC Biological Defense Research Directorate (BDRD) focuses on how to defend against the threat of biological and chemical warfare. For several years, the directorate has researched ways to protect military personnel in the event of a biological attack. The researchers are considered leaders in the field of detection, including hand-held assays, molecular diagnostics, and confirmatory analysis. BDRD serves as a national resource providing testing and analysis for the presence of potential biological hazards. The directorate’s departments include: Genomics, Immunodiagnostics and Hand Held Assays, Molecular Diagnostics and Clinical Research.

The NMRC Research Services Directorate (RSD) and its departments constitute one of the assets that sustains the mission of NMRC and its subordinate commands. The departments act as bridges for the community's scientific investigators and open the genius of NMRC scientific endeavors to research applications and developments. They promote the NMRC research mission by facilitating professional bonds with related research activities and with a vast array of collaborators. The directorate's departments are modeled upon research service offices and divisions found in a wide variety of federal, university, and private sector agencies.