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<p>The Naval Medical Research Institute was established in October 1942 and was developed during World War II to its present size and scope of research.<br><br>It is the largest activity for medical research in the Navy, the plant value of the establishment being $2,560,134.00. On its 85,000 square feet of floor space there are more than 100 laboratories. They are designed for research in chemistry, biophysics, physiology, psychology, bacteriology, virology, parasitology, pathology, pharmacology, and for dentistry and experimental surgery. In addition, there are installations including pressure tanks for research in aviation medicine and submarine and diving medicine, and psychrometric rooms for physiological and environmental studies.<br><br>In support of these laboratories there is a large Animal Laboratory with modern facilities for breeding laboratory animals and with air conditioned laboratory suites for studies requiring control of temperatures and humidity. Technical shops , glass apparatus and instrumentation laboratories with skilled machinists and mechanics are available for the design and construction of laboratory apparatus. Practically every scientific instrument needed for biological research is available in the various laboratories . Many special apparatus and installations are included, such as the electron microscope, apparatus for X-ray diffraction and electrophoresis, an ultracentrifuge, and ultraviolet, infrared and mass spectrographs.<br><br>The scope of the research may be indicated to some extent by the enumeration of some of the research projects which have been completed or on which the staff is currently engaged: Water and food for shipwrecked personnel, evaluation and development of anti-exposure suits to prolong survival in cold water, development of chemicals for the sterilization of individual canteen water supply; effect of cool quarters on efficiency and performance of naval personnel working in hot spaces; effects on personnel of various concentrations of carbon dioxide and oxygen under conditions of submarine operations ; the possible hazards connected with use of silicone insulations in submarine operations ; sea sickness and means of prevention; studies of the cause and prevention of immersion foot ; improvement of lifejacket and stretchers for use aboard ship and air-sea rescue ; effectiveness and practicability of body armor in preventing injuries from bullets and other missiles ; prevention and treatment of oxygen poisoning in divers ; the formation and appearance of gas bubbles in bends' and means of preventing '" bends"·; use of penicillin in the treatment of peritonitis on small ships and isolated naval units ; uses of tantalum wire for nerve suture; development of a salt tablet which does not cause nausea and vomiting to be used in the prevention of heat cramps ; nutrition surveys by means of a Mobile Nutrition unit at Naval Training Stations and aboard ship; evaluation and development of insect repellents and insecticides ; development of an improved automatic photo-fluorographic camera for mass chest surveys for tuberculosis ; studies of injuries from atom bomb explosions and means of treatment and prevention; the use of radioactive isotopes in medicine ; the development of a vaccine for prevention of scrub typhus : the development of a procedure for the immunization of personnel against diarrheal diseases due to bacillary dysenteries ; the effectiveness of ship board evaporators operating .in polluted harbors ; the prevention of crash injury in aviation; and the use of telemetering devices for recording physiological responses in aircraft .<br></p>
<br>Subjects: Naval Medical Research Institute</div>
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U.S. Navy. Naval Medical Research Institute</div>
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