Lugar Research Center

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Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research

ლუგარის კვლევითი ცენტრი

Lugar Laboratory Building
Established	18 March 2011; 10 years ago (2011-03-18)
Director	Paata Imnadze
Address	Kakheti highway №99
Location	Tbilisi, Georgia 41°41′22″N 44°56′41″E / 41.689444°N 44.944722°E / 41.689444; 44.944722Coordinates: 41°41′22″N 44°56′41″E / 41.689444°N 44.944722°E / 41.689444; 44.944722
ZIP code	0198
Campus	8000 m²
Affiliations	Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Affairs of Georgia
Operating agency	NCDC
Map
Location in Tbilisi

Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research (Georgian: რიჩარდ ლუგარის სახელობის საზოგადოებრივი ჯანდაცვის კვლევითი ცენტრი) is a research center (laboratory) based on the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, which was opened in 2011 and fully opened in August 2013. The Lugar Center is the highest level of laboratory network in the country, representing the public health system referral library.^[1] Lugar Center is one of the best field of scientific biomedical and biosafety researches and preparation of students, masters and doctors. The research center is located in Tbilisi, Kakheti highway.

History[]

Since the Soviet period, there have been various profile Labs in Georgia, such as "Anti-Black Death Georgian Station", which is located in Saburtalo district of Tbilisi, which is now the "National Center for Disease Control and Public Health", where almost 70 years were working on dangerous pathogens.^[2] Yet another such agency was a "Tabakhmela biochemical plant", which was producing vaccines, but according to a secret plan, it was able to carry out a working process within 24 hours and launch the biological weapons components.

The construction of the current center was launched in 2004, after the US Government and the Government of Georgia signed between the US Department of Defense and the Ministry of Defense of Georgia. The full name of the Agreement was "Cooperation in the field of prevention of the introduction of pathogenesis and experience related to biological weapons development". The US government did not want the Soviet period scientists working on the biological weapons, would get to such countries of the world as Iran or North Korea, as well as they didn't want to be issued from Georgia biological weapons-related technologies and securely protected from all of the pathogen, which for decades kept in Georgia.^[2]

The Lugar Research Center was opened in 2011, but it was fully operational from August 2013. Lugar Research Center is the highest level institution of laboratory network of country, which is a public health system referral laboratory.

The above-mentioned agreement has been implemented in the field of human and animal health and biosafety, by which in the last 13 years by the financial and technical assistance program, total cost of which is approximately 350 million USD in 2018. Within the framework of this program, the biosafety laboratory network equipped with modern equipments, was designed to diagnose pathogens causing human and animal hazardous diseases.

The Lugar Research Center is fully passed on Government of Georgia, and since 2018 the Government of Georgia provides full funding for Lugar Research Center and Laboratory Network. The Center played a key role as a diagnostic facility during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Georgia.^[3]

Allegations[]

The Lugar Research Center came to the public's attention in 2017, when Russian authorities repeatedly alleged that the center was engaged in biological weapons development for the United States.^[4]

The US Department of State called these allegations ”groundless” and reaffirmed that “all U.S. activities (...) [were] consistent with the obligations set forth in the Biological Weapons Convention”.^[5] Biological weapons expert Filippa Lentzos agreed that the Russian allegations were “unfounded” and commented that they are “part of a disinformation campaign”.^[4] Similarly, Swedish biodefense specialists Roger Roffey and Anna-Karin Tunemalm called the allegations ”a Russian propaganda tool”.^[6]

References[]