Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), as the laboratory is known today, became part of the U.S. Public Health Service’s Division of Scientific Research in 1935, but soon became part of the National Institute of Health (NIH-then singular) in 1937. Now it is part of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Today, RML conducts basic scientific research, as opposed to clinical research, in dozens of buildings on 36 acres of land, and employs about 450 people. Laboratories with the highest biosafety levels allow researchers to perform hazardous research securely and safely. RML also provides services to other NIH institutes. For example, a Genomics Core provides cutting-edge technology and consultation to researchers in the areas of gene sequencing and gene expression. Researchers receive results rapidly and in an easy-to-understand format that enables them to quickly determine potential vaccine candidates, diagnostics, and the like. The Microscopy Core Unit offers unparalleled expertise and instrumentation in electron and confocal microscopy.
Imagine the look of delight—and probably jealousy—on Dr. Ralph Parker’s face if he could turn from unloading the small truckload of equipment into the Canyon Creek Schoolhouse laboratory in September 1921, to see the campus and technology available to the Rocky Mountain Laboratories today.
