The Institute of Surgical Research has celebrated its first 40 years as a burn center with a symposium reviewing the accomplishments of its past and present staff members and its contributions to medicine in general and military surgery in particular. Partial contents include: Clinical operations, center for treatment of burned soldiers, A two-stage technique for excision and grafting versus a one-stage technique for excision and grafting of burn wounds: A prospective randomized study; 5% Aqueous sulfamylonR soaks used in topical treatment of burned soldiers; Studies of the neuroendocrine abnormalities in burn injury; The effect of recombinant human growth hormone treatment on the rate of healing on burn patients who require skin grafting; High frequency ventilation in patients with inhalation injury; Quantification of dynamic splint forces on metacarpophalangeal function recovery; Phase II study of human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in patients with thermal injury; Evaluation of in vitro cultivated keratinocytes as epithelial autografts for the closure of burn wound.