NRC-Biotechnology Research Institute: First Canadian to Receive U.S. SERDP Award: NRC-BRI's Dr. Jalal Hawari

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NRC-Biotechnology Research Institute: First Canadian to Receive U.S. SERDP Award: NRC-BRI's Dr. Jalal Hawari

CANADA, Dec. 23 -/E-Wire/Business Wire/-- Dr. Jalal Hawari of the National Research Council of Canada's Biotechnology Research Institute (NRC-BRI), received the U.S. SERDP Project of the Year Award for Cleanup, for his work on the biological degradation of explosives. Dr. Hawari, the first non-U.S. citizen to receive this prestigious award from the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), was honoured in Washington at the "Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium & Workshop" on December 2, 2003.

Since 2001, NRC-BRI's Environmental & Analytical Chemistry Group, led by Dr. Hawari, has been collaborating with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Canada's Department of National Defence to study the biodegradation of HMX and RDX, two powerful and widely used explosives. With the support of SERDP, the international research team discovered that once bacteria attack RDX and HMX, these explosive compounds auto-decompose to harmless products, namely carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.

"This research provides very valuable information for the development of bioremediation methods for explosives-contaminated soils and groundwater, and we are very pleased that SERDP has chosen to acknowledge this project with the Clean-Up Award," said Dr. Michel Desrochers, Director General of NRC-BRI. "This project is a great example of how international collaboration can produce very successful results."

Dr. Hawari's research focused on understanding how microorganisms metabolize explosives. Prior to this research, little was known about the microorganisms and the enzymes involved in the degradation process of RDX and HMX. "We discovered key metabolites that led to the understanding of the microbial degradation pathways of these two energetic chemicals," said Dr. Hawari. "These metabolites can serve as powerful markers to monitor the environmental fate of explosives."

The scientific breakthroughs from this project have resulted in 20 scientific publications. They have also attracted two new collaborations on related work with the U.S. Office of Naval Research and with the U.S. Army and SERDP. The total value of these collaborations amounts to over $2 million.

The NRC Biotechnology Research Institute (www.irb-bri.cnrc-nrc.ca) is one of 19 institutes that make up the National Research Council Canada. NRC-BRI is the largest laboratory in Canada dedicated to R&D; in biotechnology, with three main sectors of research in Environment, Health, and Bioprocess. The Environment Sector focuses on the development of bioprocesses for the prevention, treatment and monitoring of pollution, as well as the development of new biotechnology applications related to fighting climate change and achieving sustainable industrial development.

SERDP (www.serdp.org) is the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) corporate environmental R&D; program, in full partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). SERDP identifies, develops, and transitions environmental technologies that relate directly to defense mission accomplishment.

Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Army, Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity, nor of the Office of Naval Research.

NRC-Biotechnology Research Institute

Catherine Sartoros, [REDACTED-PHONE], [REDACTED-EMAIL] or Dr. Jalal Hawari, [REDACTED-PHONE], [REDACTED-EMAIL]

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