LOCKDOWN AT MALIBU MED Monday, April 30, 2012 In the early hours of this morning, police and hazmat units moved to block all entrances to Rindge University Campus, including the medical school and associated research institutes. The exact nature of the emergency remains unknown. All lines to the president's office give a busy signal. The only official information is from the Office of the Dean of the Medical School, released at 8:42 a.m.: An incident in the research area of the campus is undergoing investigation. Appropriate emergency response units have been mobilized to define the situation and initiate any further measures. There is no evidence of release of radioactive or other hazardous materials, and there is no health risk to university staff or students or to the City of Malibu. Campus maps show that the research area includes the medical school, the Institute for Radio-Oncology, the Stem Cell Institute, the Neural Sciences Institute, their laboratories, and vivaria. Airborne news units from the Times, K9News, and KABC report a tight cordon with intense activity around several of the institute buildings and some hazmat crews working on adjacent hillsides before sheriff helicopters moved all news units back from the scene. Already there is growing concern as to the possible impact upon numerous NIH-funded research programs as well as preclinical and clinical trials sponsored by pharmacologic and biotech companies. A spokesman for Genietech would do no more than confirm that they had some ongoing studies at Rindge but had no information relating to this incident.