organization 1 industry contract research organizations pharmaceutical biotechnology founded 1936 headquarters chicago illinois products pre clinical drug development services number of employees 150 1 website www.iitri.org iitri tower built 1964 65 ; dedicated 1966 iit research institute iitri 2 3 4 note 1 also known historically and interchangeably as iit research center 2 5 6 note 2 note 3 is a high technology scientific research organization and applied research laboratory located in chicago illinois . previously known as the armour research foundation 7 8 note 4 the iitri is an independent corporation that operates collaboratively with the illinois institute of technology iit and the u.s. government . contents 1 history of iitri 1.1 research history 1.2 patents 1.3 awards 2 current activities 3 current divisions of iitri 3.1 toxicology 3.2 inhalation toxicology 3.3 microbiology and molecular biology 3.4 carcinogenesis and cancer chemoprevention 3.5 drug discovery 4 see also 5 notes 6 references citations 7 references books 8 references journals 9 references newspapers 10 references technical literature & other 11 external links history of iitri edit iitri was formed in 1936 9 note 5 as the armour research foundation arf and was renamed iitri in 1963 . initially arf was formed to support the research endeavors of faculty members from the armour institute of technology predecessor to the illinois institute of technology iit . iitri is headquartered on the iit campus in chicago but operates as an independent not for profit research organization . 1 between its founding in 1936 and 2000 iitri developed research operations in approximately two dozen locations 10 across the united states . the iitri staff grew to approximately 1700 employees who performed research and development programs with an annual research budget exceeding 200 m per year . historically as a major national science research center work involved both unclassified and classified secret research . in 2002 iitri became entirely focused on the life sciences . all other science and engineering divisions were spun off into alion science and technology 11 a separate employee owned corporation . since 2002 research at iitri has been entirely focused on biomedical research 1 with particular emphasis on pre clinical toxicology 1 safety evaluations and drug discovery and development . in 2006 iitri formed technology research inc. tri as a wholly owned subsidiary in which research programs that fall outside of iitri s not for profit charter can be conducted . cover of a study of lunar research flights volume i technical report on 1959 june 19 by leonard reiffel of the armour research foundation involving flight paths for project a119 . research history edit research and development programs explored as an engineering think tank over the decades have involved many areas of science including applied physics high energy physics upper atmosphere research aeronomy 4 nuclear physics nuclear attack survival numerical and computer simulations electron microscopes and microscopy police technologies military luminescence aerosols spacecraft thermal protective coatings 12 material effects by solar radiation 13 energy work 14 and mining engineering . the invention of the modern cellphone was developed here . early research into magnetics here would cause the development of early wire recorders 15 16 fostering modern tape recording 15 and later the new field of computer science . patents edit numerous patents over the decades have resulted from work by its researchers including as an assignee under iit research institute . 17 18 note 6 awards edit several of its engineer scientists have distinguished themselves as recipients of the national medal of technology or the national medal of science in addition to other awards . current activities edit current investigations at iitri are focused on biomedicine as a contract research organization cro with particular emphasis on non clinical toxicology inhalation toxicology and technology microbiology and molecular biology 19 and drug discovery 20 and development for cancer 20 and infectious diseases . 19 iitri conducts research programs with particular emphasis on studies to support investigational new drug applications and new drug applications to the u.s. food and drug administration . current divisions of iitri edit iitri currently performs research in five technical divisions toxicology inhalation toxicology microbiology and molecular biology 19 carcinogenesis and cancer chemoprevention 20 and drug discovery . 20 toxicology edit scientists working in iitri s toxicology division have performed non clinical toxicology studies for u.s. government and medical industry sponsors for more than thirty years . current programs involve acute subchronic and chronic studies in both rodent and non rodent model systems to support new drug research . in addition to general toxicology studies iitri scientists routinely perform pharmacokinetics and metabolism pk adme studies reproductive toxicology studies safety pharmacology studies and studies involving a variety of specializations and clinical endpoints . a particular strength of the scientific staff is the integration of non routine evaluations genomics gene expression cell biology biochemistry and enzymology into the conduct of non clinical toxicology protocols . inhalation toxicology edit iitri s inhalation toxicology division integrates the efforts of doctoral level inhalation scientists and engineers with experienced doctoral level toxicologists to conduct non clinical toxicology studies in support of investigational new drug ind and new drug nda applications . studies are performed in both rodent and non rodent species . nose only and whole body exposures are performed using metered dose inhalaers nebulizers atomizers powder dispensers and vapor generation systems with continuous on line monitoring to document test atmosphere composition . study endpoints are similar to those performed by scientists of the toxicology division and commonly involve safety evaluations . safety pharmacology studies are performed to determine the effects of drugs and other xeniobiotics on the function of the central nervous respiratory cardiovascular and urinary renal systems . cardiovascular safety pharmacology studies are performed using telemetry instrumentation . microbiology and molecular biology edit scientists working in iitri s microbiology and molecular biology division 19 work in genetic toxicology immunotoxicology applied microbiology genomics and gene expression and molecular diagnostics . genetic toxicologists at iitri routinely perform bacterial mutagenesis assays ames tests mammalian mutagenesis assays mouse lymphoma and other tests dna damage assays micronucleus and chromosomal aberration assays and cytotoxicity assays . molecular biologists perform a wide range of studies in gene expression including genomics evaluations using several different platforms . iitri has studied immunotoxicology for more than 25 years . in the early 1980s iitri scientists were key participants in the original tripartite program with the niehs and the medical college of virginia in which murine immunotoxicology bioassays were developed and validated . subsequently iitri scientists played a major role in the development and validation of the local lymph node assay llna for the rapid detection of agents that induce hypersensitivity . iitri s microbiology and molecular biology division 19 operates both biosafety level 2 and biosafety level 3 laboratories for in vitro and in vivo studies and is approved by the united states centers for disease control and prevention cdc to conduct studies with a broad range of pathogenic agents . this work involves molecular diagnostics drug and vaccine efficacy evaluations drug and vaccine safety evaluations and decontamination studies . carcinogenesis and cancer chemoprevention edit the focus of research efforts in carcinogenesis and cancer chemoprevention division 20 is the prevention of cancer by pharmacologic nutritional or hormonal interventions . iitri has done preclinical studies of cancer prevention for more than 30 years and iitri scientists have published more than 200 peer reviewed papers in the field . originally focused entirely on the prevention of experimental breast cancer scientists working in iitri s carcinogenesis and chemoprevention division 20 have conducted studies directed at mechanisms of carcinogenesis and prevention of cancer in the breast prostate lung colon urinary bladder oral cavity liver skin and hematopoietic system among other organ sites . the earliest studies conducted by this group in the 1970s focused on the prevention of cancer by natural and synthetic analogs of vitamin a retinoids . this work has expanded substantially since that time and currently involves a wide range of natural products soy isoflavones and protease inhibitors tea polyphenols organic selenium compounds vitamin d and derivatives hormones and hormone analogs and pharmacologic agents originally developed for other indications . mechanistic studies are performed at the cell biochemical and molecular levels and preclinical drug discovery and development studies involve a wide range of in vitro and in vivo screening efficacy and preclinical toxicology programs . drug discovery edit the various research efforts in the foregoing divisions supports drug discovery division 20 with investigational new drug ind applications and new drug applications nda to the u.s. food and drug administration as well as submissions to other regulatory agencies . studies comply with good laboratory practice glp regulations . iitri s expertise in non clinical studies also supports the development of drugs for cancer prevention and therapy . see also edit california institute of technology massachusetts institute of technology mccrone research institute sri international association of independent technological universities project a119 adme end point of clinical trials drug development pharmacodynamics notes edit iitri or iitri is used on cover sheets of technical paper documents in prior decades . iit research center appears under document title heading labels used on cover sheets of technical paper documents in prior decades . this can also appear together on the same sheet with the background abbreviation iitri or iitri . iit research center appears on one of the recipient address pages p. 23 in rome new york on the lower right side of the gama ; et al. 2004 reference . actual letter stationery in the period notes in its header iit research institute as the primary letterhead first line . the second line underneath has the name formerly armour research foundation of illinois institute of technology . both lines are in upper case block type with address etc. information below as the third line . the left of the letterhead has an iitri upended rectangular box with five straight non parallel intersecting lines with a dark field and the letters iitri in caps at the box bottom in its own white background field the second i and the r being subscript slightly to the rest of the letters . for example see the zerlaut ; et al. 1964 ref . additionally some journal articles of the transition period particularly for author information show iit research institute formerly armour research foundation . for example see the weil & daniel 1964 ref . incorporation date shows as 1936 april 06 which is the original date of the armour research foundation . the file name is currently under the entity of iit research institute which would have been done by filing a change of name as an amendment to the articles of incorporation at a later date thus allowing retention of the original armour incorporation date . for example u.s. patent 3 564 154 issued february 16 1971 by inventor marvin camras for cathode ray tube magnetic reproducer for video ; and more recently u.s. patent 6 461 290 issued october 8 2002 by inventor david a. reichman ; et al. for collapsible isolation apparatus involving isolation of a patient in a controlled environment protecting the transported patient against biological or chemical hazards . references citations edit a b c d e iit 2003 annual report on research p. 41 . a b greenbaum & wheeler 1967 cover sheet technical paper . szpakiewicz ; et al. 1990 cover sheet i technical paper . a b mccormac ; et al. 1967 p. i book . gama ; et al. 2004 p. 23 technical paper . szpakiewicz ; et al. 1990 cover sheet ii technical paper . zerlaut ; et al. 1964 p. 1 technical letter report . weil & daniel 1964 p. 268 journal article . corporation file report illinois secretary of state . iit 2003 annual report on research p. 23 . iit 2003 annual report on research p. 21 . gilligan & harada 1976 technical report . firestone & harada 1979 technical report . boston globe 1980 march 25 p.