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NIH chief on biolab: 'Do this right'

E-mail | Print | Comments () Posted by Karen Weintraub March 13, 2008 09:36 AM

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By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff

The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, offered the clearest sign yet that a controversial laboratory being built by Boston University won't open anytime soon.

Addressing a blue ribbon panel of scientists convened to review the project, Zerhouni said he had no expectation that the board would "rubber stamp" his agency's earlier conclusion that the lab would present no threat to the surrounding South End neighborhood. The centerpiece of the project is a Biosafety Level-4 lab where scientists can work on the world's deadliest germs, including Ebola, plague, and anthrax.

"We are not here because we want you to rubber stamp what we have done," Zerhouni said. "We need to do this right, even if it takes a long time."

"Basically, you should be tough," the NIH chief said. "I can't say it in any other way. There are no foregone conclusions here."

Construction of the facility on Albany Street, which is being underwritten by the NIH, is 77 percent complete.

NIH named the blue ribbon panel after an indepedent scientific agency sharply criticized NIH's earlier environmental review of the project.

The initial meeting of the panel is continuing in Washington and is being streamed online.

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About white coat notes

White Coat Notes covers the latest from the health care industry, hospitals, doctors offices, labs, insurers, and the corridors of government. Chelsea Conaboy previously covered health care for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Write her at cconaboy@boston.com. Follow her on Twitter: @cconaboy.

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