What's New Dr. Thomas Inglesby Named Director of the Center for Biosecurity: On November 11, 2009, UPMC President Jeffrey Romoff named Dr. Thomas Inglesby as Director of the Center for Biosecurity of UPMC. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Inglesby was the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Director of the Center for Biosecurity. He is an infectious diseases physician who has more than a decade of experience in the field of biosecurity. UPMC press release | Dr. Inglesby's biography. (posted November 11, 2009) Dr. Tara O’Toole Appointed DHS Undersecretary for S&T: Former Director of the Center for Biosecurity, Dr. Tara O’Toole, has been appointed Undersecretary for Science and Technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Her colleagues at the Center for Biosecurity wish her well in her new role. (posted November 11, 2009) Quarantine couldn’t contain H1N1 • Concern over mutated form of H1N1 • 2 clusters of pandemic disease • DHS pandemic emergency authorities matrix • Hajj travel and H1N1 • Taliban threat to poison water sources • Smallpox vaccine contract • Biosecurity screening protocols • Syria nuclear activity. Read BNIB. 2009 H1N1 Influenza Issue Brief Licensure, Evaluation and Adverse Event Monitoring of the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccine: In this issue brief, the Center for Biosecurity describes both the licensing process for the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine and the surveillance systems currently used by public health officials to monitor adverse events. This information is essential to informed discussions about the safety of the current vaccine, which has been questioned on many fronts. Read the issue brief: HTML | PDF.
Recent Event Prevention of Biothreats: A Look Ahead: This conference, hosted by the Center for Biosecurity in collaboration with the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation, and Terrorism, convened thought leaders from government, the technical and policy communities, and academia to exchange views on preventing the development and use of biological weapons. Go to: Conference website | View videos | Summary Report. (posted October 19, 2009) Recent Publications by Center Staff Billions for Biodefense: Federal Agency Biodefense Funding, FY2009-FY2010. This year, for the first time, the Center for Biosecurity’s annual analysis of federal spending for biodefense includes a breakdown of biodefense funding that serves multiple programmatic goals and benefits, both biodefense and non-biodefense related. Read full article. (posted September 23, 2009) Public Health and Medical Responses to the 1957-58 Influenza Pandemic (available ahead of print in Biosecurity and Bioterrorism): While it cannot be predicted with absolute certainty how the H1N1 pandemic might play out in the U.S. this fall, lessons from the 1957-58 influenza pandemic provide useful and practical insights for current planning and response efforts. Read the full article | Visit the publisher’s website [PDF]. (posted August 5, 2009) BARDA Funding: Economic Analysis of Cost and Probability of Success of the MCM Pipeline Updated for 2010: Our results indicate that BARDA remains significantly underfunded. FY2010 Analysis | FY2009 Analysis (posted August 18, 2009) |