About the HTRL

The Howard T. Ricketts Laboratory (HTRL) is one of 12 Regional Biocontainment Laboratories (RBL) located throughout the United States constructed by partnerships between the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and local academic institutions. Construction of the Howard T. Ricketts Laboratory was completed in 2009 by the University of Chicago. The HTRL is located on the campus of the Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, approximately 20 miles from the University of Chicago campus in Hyde Park, Chicago. The HTRL provides state of the art Level 2 and 3 biocontainment facilities for conducting laboratory and animal research on biodefense-related and emerging infectious disease agents

All of the research staff at the HTRL are committed to working at the highest levels of safety and ethical behavior. We are proud to present the information on these pages as a resource for learning about our facility, its capabilities and research programs, as well as links to other sites for additional information about biodefense, biosafety, and microbial pathogenesis.