News Release

Friday, May 30, 2008

Media Availability Following Briefing for Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin on the Bayview Biomedical Research Center

What: Senators Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) and Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) will visit the National Institutes of Health’s Biomedical Research Center (BRC) on the Johns Hopkins Bayview campus in Baltimore, Maryland on Monday, June 2, 2008. 

The BRC houses major components of the intramural research programs of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The BRC consists of approximately 500,000 gross square feet of laboratory, vivarium and administrative space, and houses nearly 1,000 scientists and support staff for both basic and clinical research programs.

At the NIA, researchers in the new facility will pursue a broad-based program centered around critical issues regarding the general biology of aging and age-associated diseases and disabilities. Specific areas of focus include genetic determinants of age; animal studies of caloric restrictions in the development and potential prevention of disease; and investigations of stability of personality in adulthood and later.

Scientists at the NIDA plan to pursue research directions related to the identification of genes that contribute to drug addiction; development and use of neuroimaging techniques — such as PET, MRI and functional MRI — to better understand the neurological components that contribute to drug abuse, addiction, and other compulsive disorders; and the exploration of effective treatments for adolescent smokers, particularly in minority populations.

When: Monday, June 2, 2008 at noon.

Where: The Johns Hopkins Bayview campus in Baltimore, Maryland
251 Bayview Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21224
National Institute on Drug Abuse Conference Room #2

Who: Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., NIH Director, and other senior NIH officials.

Note to Editors: Credentialed press interested in a tour prior to the press briefing should arrive at the Biomedical Research Center by 11:15 a.m.   Public affairs staff will register credentialed press.  For television crews or reporters who wish to drive, please visit: http://www.grc.nia.nih.gov/visitors/brc-directions.htm

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®

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