September 21, 2022
The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF) hosted an Open House of the HJF Conference Facility with local dignitaries, partners, employees, and special guests yesterday. The Bethesda Auditorium seats nearly 200 attendees, while breakout rooms support meetings and gatherings for up to 100 attendees.
State delegates were welcomed to the ribbon cutting ceremony at the HJF Home Office, where the new Bethesda Auditorium opened for use by Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences (USU) students and faculty, as well as others in the military medical ecosystem and beyond. Maryland State Delegates Marc Korman and Sara Love, as well as Montgomery County Representative Marc Elrich, spoke at the event. State Delegate Mike Rogers also attended.
“The work you are doing here is critical. Anything that affects soldiers affects us all,” said Elrich. “I really appreciate what you are doing here and the science you are enabling; it matters.” Elrich noted Montgomery County is number two in the country for tech talent and number four biocluster in the county. HJF, with this new facility, will contribute to that important collaboration.
Dr. Joseph Caravalho, HJF President and CEO, together with Dr. Jonathan Woodson, USU President, gave remarks to the audience during the ceremony.
“The opening of the HJF Conference Facility with the Bethesda Auditorium increases the ability of HJF to fulfill a crucial part of its mission,” Dr. Caravalho said. “That is to support research and education at USU as well as throughout the military medicine community. This facility will serve our local community as a space for collaboration and knowledge sharing.”
While conference facilities in the area support meetings of various sizes in ballrooms and other meeting spaces, the Bethesda Auditorium includes advanced collaboration technology to enable sharing of information among the in-person and virtual attendees. The world of work has changed, and organizations can take advantage of this facility in Montgomery County, Maryland, to convene and collaborate. Individuals in the Bethesda Auditorium enjoy comfortable seating, clear lines of sight, optimized acoustics, and the ability to engage with presenters directly from any seat.