Bethesda, Maryland — The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today it has appointed Franziska Grieder, D.V.M., Ph.D., as Associate Director of Comparative Medicine. Since 2000, Grieder has managed the Division of Comparative Medicine's Laboratory Animal Sciences Program, where she created the Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Centers Program and supervised grants related to mammalian models, comparative and functional genomics, and training opportunities for veterinarians and veterinary students.

As the NCRR Associate Director of Comparative Medicine, Grieder will oversee the division's grantmaking — which exceeded $176 million in FY 2004 — to support the eight national primate research centers and their field stations, primate breeding and resource-related projects, development of mammalian and nonmammalian animal model resources, pre- and post-doctoral training, and a variety of research projects.

"Dr. Grieder has proven she can create and adapt programs to accommodate the rapidly changing needs of the biomedical research community, to ensure NCRR can provide the resources that are vital to animal-based investigations," said NCRR Director Judith L. Vaitukaitis, M.D. "Her substantial experience in both clinical and basic research, combined with her knowledge of the NIH's grantmaking process, makes her uniquely qualified for this pivotal position."

Since 1993, Grieder has been on the faculty and has conducted research at the Medical School of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. Her areas of expertise include viral-induced neuroimmunology and neurodegeneration, emerging viral threats, and the molecular genetics of Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus — which is on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's list of biowarfare agents.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, Grieder grew up in Switzerland and received her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Zurich. She earned her Ph.D. in viral pathogenesis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and conducted post-doctoral research on the VEE virus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has written numerous articles and book chapters for scientific publications, and her research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals including Virology, Journal of Immunology, and Nature Genetics.

Grieder will assume her new responsibilities immediately. The previous Associate Director of Comparative Medicine, John Strandberg, D.V.M., Ph.D., retired last December.

A high-resolution photo of Dr. Grieder is available at: http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/images/Grieder.jpg.

NCRR is part of the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. NCRR is the nation's leading federal sponsor of resources that enable advances in many areas of biomedical research. NCRR support provides the scientific research community with access to a diverse array of biomedical research technologies, instrumentation, specialized basic and clinical research facilities, animal models, genetic stocks, and such biomaterials as cell lines, tissues, and organs. Additional information about NCRR can be found at www.ncrr.nih.gov.