Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute Hosts Representatives from Germany, India

Members of the Uniformed Services University's Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) met separately with representatives from both Germany and India to continue strengthening its international partnerships recently.

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INMAS scientists engage in discussion during their visit to AFRRI. (Photo courtesy of AFRRI)

September 11, 2024 by Lt. Nicholas Hance

Members of the Uniformed Services University'sArmed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) met separately with representatives from both Germany and India to continue strengthening its international partnerships recently.

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COL Mattias Port (left) and COL Michael Abend (center), join Dr. David Schauer (right), Head, Radiation Generators Division, Radiation Sciences Department, for a tour of the LINAC (Linear Accelerator) at AFRRI. (Photo courtesy of AFRRI)

AFRRI continued its long-standing collaboration with Germany's Bundeswehr Institute of Radiobiology (BIR), located in Munich. BIR serves as the center of expertise in radiation biology for the Federal Defence Forces of Germany, and is affiliated with the University of Ulm.

Colonel Matthias Port, BIR director, and Colonel Michael Abend, deputy director, delivered a seminar at AFRRI featuring data generated from studies conducted between the two organizations.

BIR hosts a biannual event known as ConRad (Conference on Radiation Topics), providing an international forum for all things nuclear medical defense. AFRRI staff attended the previous conference in 2023, which emphasized the topics of medical impacts of the use of nuclear weapons and countermeasures, and internal radiation by radionuclides of emergencies and therapies. The 26th ConRad is currently scheduled for May, 2025.

A total of four scientists also visited from India's Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences (INMAS): Dr. Vijayakumar Chinnadurai, Dr. Apoorv Dhawan, Dr. Sonia Gandhi, and Dr. Shilpi Modi. They were joined by Dr. Vijayabaskar Narayanamurthy, Counsellor (Defence Technology),at the Embassy of India. Located in Delhi, INMAS falls under India's Ministry of Defense and stands as their AFRRI equivalent.

The AFRRI-INMAS meeting was to discuss collaboration between the two institutes in medical countermeasures against acute radiation syndrome, as both institutions are focused on the development of radiation countermeasures. INMAS scientists previously visited AFRRI in 2018, and AFRRI staff have visited INMAS in 2008, 2010, and 2018, with another trip scheduled later this year.

"These international partnerships continue to be important for AFRRI, as they build strategic research and academic collaborative efforts," said Col Susan Whiteway, deputy director at AFRRI.

The mission of AFRRI is to defend the Nation from nuclear and radiological threats through research, leadership, training, and education. AFRRI is committed to be medically and operationally prepared to preserve operational force resilience and fighting strength in the event of adversarial employment of nuclear weapons.

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