US Embassy: ‘we are gratified that more Georgians are learning about important work of Lugar Lab’

The US Embassy to Georgia says it is happy to see more Georgians are learning about the important work of the Lugar Lab in Tbilisi, which was constructed with the funds allocated by the US government. 

The Lugar center, which was constructed with US government funding and is owned and operated by the Georgian government, was established to identify and address disease outbreaks just like COVID-19,” the embassy said. 

• Tbilisi-based Lugar Lab to be able to test for new coronavirus
• Lugar Lab using genetic sequence technology to identify source of coronavirus

The lab is frequently the target of Russian government propaganda, which claims that ‘alarming genetic research’ is being conducted in the centre. 

• Putin claims ‘alarming genetic research’ being conducted in US-built lab in Tbilisi

Georgian health officials have many times dismissed the allegations, calling them ‘unimaginable falsehoods and slander.’

• Georgian health official says Russia’s allegations about Lugar Lab in Tbilisi are false

They have also invited Russian scientists to the country to see the lab and familiarise themselves with the activities of the lab. However, the invitations have been consistently dismissed.

The Lugar Lab, officially called the Center for Public Health Research, is located in Tbilisi and named after former American Senator Richard Lugar.

It became operational in 2013. The centre is part of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), under the Georgian Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs.

The construction of the centre was launched in 2004 based on agreements signed between Georgia and US in 1997 and 2002.