Battelle Selects New Director for National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC)

FREDERICK, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Battelle National Biodefense Institute (BNBI) has selected Dr. George W. Korch, Jr. as the new lab director for the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC).

“We’re delighted that George will be joining the NBACC as lab director,” said Ron Townsend, Battelle’s Executive Vice President for Global Laboratory Operations and Chair of the BNBI Board of Directors. “We did an extensive national search and I’m confident we found the best leader for the NBACC mission. Not only does he bring the experience of managing a nationally recognized biodefense lab and directing biosecurity programs, he has unparalleled scientific credentials as evidenced by his faculty affiliation with Johns Hopkins University.”

Returning to Fort Detrick will be a homecoming for Korch, who served as the Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). He was also instrumental in the creation of NBACC in the wake of the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.

“I’m thrilled to be returning to Fort Detrick and taking on the leadership of NBACC,” Korch said. “The NBACC’s twin missions of threat characterization and bioforensics are essential and critical for our nation’s long-term biosecurity and for the continuous, real-time needs of federal law enforcement.”

Prior to joining BNBI Korch served for a number of years as the Senior Science Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) for the Department of Health and Human Services. He served for a period as the Acting ASPR during the recent transition of administrations. He retired from the U.S. Army Medical Department in 2008. He holds a Ph.D from the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Hygiene and Public Health. He also has a Visiting Professor appointment in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at this prestigious institution. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has a variety of scientific publications and is the recipient of numerous civilian and military awards and honors.

Korch replaces former NBACC director Patrick Fitch who has accepted a position with Triad National Security, LLC as Associate Lab Director for Chemical, Earth, and Life Sciences at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Triad includes Battelle as a member of the LLC and is the new managing contractor at Los Alamos.

About NBACC

Since 2006 the Battelle National Biodefense Institute has operated and managed the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate as a Federally Funded Research and Development Center. BNBI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Battelle.

For more information contact Brian Gaudet at [phone] or [e-mail].

About Battelle

Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle serves the national security, health and life sciences, and energy and environmental industries. For more information, visit www.battelle.org.

For more information contact Katy Delaney at [phone] or at [e-mail] or contact T.R. Massey at [phone] or at [e-mail].