H1N1 vaccine distribution • TB cases decrease • Al-Qaeda pursuing WMDs • Botulinum antitoxin made available • FDA approves changes to smallpox vaccine facilities • Investigation of vaccine practices in China • Flying vaccinator concept demonstrated • USAID outlines priorities. Read BNIB.
What's New The Next Challenge in Healthcare Preparedness: Catastrophic Health Events (CHEs): In this report, the Center proposes a definition and vision of a healthcare system well-prepared to respond to CHEs and a set of concrete recommendations for creating that system. Following the Center’s March 2009 evaluation of healthcare preparedness overall, which concluded that progress has been made and communities are more prepared for common disasters as a result of the federal HPP program, the Center found that more work is needed to ready the nation for a CHE. Executive Summary | Full Report (Posted March 5, 2010)
Anita Cicero, JD, Joins the Center for Biosecurity: We are pleased to welcome Anita Cicero as Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Biosecurity of UPMC. Ms. Cicero brings to this position 2 decades of experience as a practicing attorney in both the U.S. government and the private sector. Ms. Cicero specialized in developing public–private partnerships that addressed challenges in medical countermeasure development and clinical research, as well as consortia that focused on technical, scientific, regulatory, and policy issues. Dr. Thomas Inglesby, the Center’s Director and CEO, notes, “Ms. Cicero is talented, smart, and dedicated to improving the nation’s biosecurity. Her extensive experience with developing consensus-based and creative approaches to improving biosecurity policy will be of great benefit to our work. We are very fortunate to have her join us.” Read Ms. Cicero’s bio. (Posted March 3, 2010)
Assessing the Legal Standard of Care in Public Health Emergencies: James G. Hodge Jr, JD, LLM (Arizona State University) Brooke Courtney, JD, MPH (Center for Biosecurity) discuss legal issues associated with establishing crisis standards of care during a disaster (JAMA Commentary). Read summary | Full text—subscription required. (Posted January 27, 2010)
U.S. Government Judgments on the Threat of Biological Weapons: Official Assessments, 2004-2009. While there have been many official, public U.S. government reports presenting assessments of the threat of bioterrorism and/or biological weapons, their collected findings have not been organized in such a way as to make evident common, persistent, and/or important judgments or trends. To that end, we have compiled in one document key judgments from a series of major U.S. government assessments that were conducted in the past 5 years. Read the report (PDF). (Posted January 20, 2010)
Center for Biosecurity of UPMC Resigns from Alliance for Biosecurity. In late November 2009, the Center for Biosecurity submitted its letter of resignation from the Alliance for Biosecurity. Read the full text of the letter. (Posted January 14, 2010) |
